Pennies and Dimes
by WitchyGirl99
Summary: The story of Kagome Higurashi: talking off clients, surviving her bachelor's degree, and having a secret Not-Friends-with-Benefits arrangement with the most attractive jerk ever. Who she definitely isn't falling in love with. Not even a little. InuKag.
1. Part I

**Author's Note:** _Pennies and Dimes_ was originally posted on my old website, way back. Due to popular demand, I am posting it here. This story is literally nothing but porn with some eventual fluff and feelings thrown in. If you're looking for plot, you've come to the wrong place.

 **Updates:** This story is 100% complete and will be updated on a weekly basis.

 **Warnings:** Guys, this is basically a porno. There are lemons everywhere. Exhibitionist lemons. Multi-position lemons. Smack-talking lemons. You get the point. Also, some sexual scenes do not include "safe sex" meaning a lack of condoms where condoms should exist. Please don't take this as an educational reference for safe sex.

* * *

 **Pennies and Dimes**

 **Part I**

* * *

 _Jamie: Why don't they ever make a movie about what happens after they kiss?_

 _Dylan: They do. It's called porn._

 _-Friends with Benefits (2011)_

* * *

" _Ooh,_ yes baby, fuck me. Mmm, harder."

Kagome flipped the page on her anthropology text, trying to finish her readings for her test in two days. She was only a bit behind on her work, but nothing too crazy. If she could finish the next three chapters she'd be fine. It was only eighty pages.

Easy.

"That's right, _oh you're so big_. Love getting fucked by you. Mmm, yeah, mmm _harder_."

The Goddess of Love would be laughing at her right now. Aphrodite was probably rolling somewhere in her tomb, or wherever it was that she rolled. Her bed, maybe, with Ares in it because she was a bit of a _slu_ –

"Fuck me, fuck me, _oh god I'm–_ "

Kagome flipped to another page.

"Oh my _god_ ," she drawled out, letting the underlying moan take over. She ignored the sounds on the other end of the headset, the way the man was grunting something incoherent and probably degrading. It didn't matter much anyways. She read another paragraph before the guy was finally done and then she did her proper 'thanks for _coming_ ' spiel and clicked the headset to end the call.

She scribbled down a note in the pad beside her, trying to form a relatively clear chart of Greek gods and goddesses. So far, it wasn't looking so neat. Damn the incest.

There was a familiar beep and Kagome didn't even sigh, she just answered the call. "Another one?" Kagome asked, only because she was required to. The female operator on the other end confirmed, telling her the caller was male. "Alright, I'm good."

It took a moment for the line to connect, but Kagome had been doing this for almost a year now and she'd gotten good at the timing. When there was a distinct lack of background humming, Kagome spoke up, flipping to another page. "Hi, you're on the line with Yura. How are you doing tonight, darling?"

This one required a lot less participation on her end, so Kagome moaned and panted like she was having the best sex of her life, letting it wind up and up as the male on the other end got closer and closer. "Oh, _oh_ , don't stop," she whispered, sounding ridiculously breathy. She'd gotten good, Kagome was almost proud to say.

By the time she was finished with the caller, her throat was starting to hurt, voice getting scratchy. She checked the clock, realizing she had just under an hour left of her shift. Finishing up the last of the chapter, Kagome sighed and crawled out of bed. Any minute now she'd probably get another client, so she left her bedroom and went towards the kitchen.

Being a student was hard. University wasn't cheap and tuition was getting higher each year. Her mother had enough financial worries – what with her brother and grandfather living in the house back at home. Kagome was studying too far away to stay there, but maintaining a fair paying and flexible job was the least she could do to ease the burden. Kagome was already splitting the apartment with two other flatmates and if she could afford her own groceries more often than not, it was better for all of her family. The flexibility of her hours as a phone sex worker was great too – it allowed her to choose times when Sango and Kikyo would most likely be out with study groups, classes or late-night meetings. Neither of them minded but it was easier if they didn't hear her when she was panting to be fucked by someone who was probably old enough to be her parent.

The beep of her headset momentarily distracted her, and Kagome paused before opening a cupboard and getting out a glass for her water. She quickly filled it with tap water, taking a couple gulps while the operator patched her through. Kagome let her mind settle, let _Yura the Phone Sex Operator_ take control while she rested against the kitchen counter. No one was home and she had been stuck in her room for the past two hours studying. She needed a minute of fresher air.

The static died and Kagome practically purred. "Hi, you're on the line with Yura. How can I help you tonight?"

"Yura, my love, how are you?"

 _Bankotsu_ , Kagome remembered, listening to the voice. There were a few regulars that she had, that needed to relax from their long journey home after their day job. Bankotsu was familiar – someone who was relatively easy to please. She liked him, all things considered. She didn't know the guy's real first name, but he was decent enough to talk to.

"I'm doing pretty well tonight," Kagome replied. "Relaxing mostly, enjoying my martini. It's getting rather late but I'm comfortable at the pool."

"Tanning all day? Haven't you heard that shit's bad for you?" Bankotsu teased.

"It's only bad if there are tan lines," Kagome hummed. "And there won't be. Although, the sun's gone so I should probably head inside soon." She took another glass of water, wishing to hell it was a martini. It was warm outside, although Kagome knew mostly because of the weather report and not from personal experience. She'd been holed up in her room all day trying to study for upcoming tests. Thankfully she only had one class early in the morning.

"Getting warmed up?"

"Always a tease," Kagome murmured. The conversation went on from there, slow progress that ranged from talking about the recent news to future politics. Kagome was refilling her glass by the time that Bankotsu finally started hinting more heavily and she took her cue, saying the words that he wanted to hear.

"Mmm, I want you to fill me up so bad," Kagome whispered, a heated pant that she had perfected due to practice. "Use that big dick of yours to pound me. You like it rough, don't you baby?"

Bankotsu was a talker. He loved to talk almost as much as he liked to hear her talk. She groaned loud and wantonly as the man on the other end told her all the things he wanted to do to her, how she'd love it, how she'd want it.

It was completely surprising when the door to the kitchen burst open, but Kagome didn't turn around, not right away. Sango just came back from her group meeting probably; Kikyo was a TA for a night class so she wouldn't be back for another hour. Her friends were aware of the job, so Kagome didn't even hesitate.

That was a mistake.

" _Oh_ yeah, mmm baby I'd want that. I'd want you to tease me, get me all wet and begging and – _oh."_ The last part wasn't intentional, not by a long shot. Kagome had turned to leave the kitchen and go back to her room when it wasn't _Sango_ that was blocking the doorway.

It was a guy.

A very hot and rather attractive guy.

For the longest second, Kagome stared stupidly at him. She wanted to demand what the hell this guy was doing in her apartment, and why the hell was he just standing there?

"Yura, do you want me to fuck you now? _Do you_?" Bankotsu panted, his following groan indicating that he was getting close. The call had already last thirty minutes, so typically Kagome would be pushing for the finale – _but there was a guy in her kitchen._

And she couldn't just _stop_.

"Fuck me baby," she let out, long and horrible and she sounded _wrecked_ and _desperate_ , but that was the point. The guy – silver hair, dog ears, gold-coloured eyes – stared at her stupidly, possibly paralysed to the spot. Then Kagome could see Sango behind him, about to yell something when she caught her gaze. Her best friend looked utterly confused, but there was nothing to be done. Gripping her glass of water tighter, Kagome brushed past the guy and left as quickly as she could. She moaned on the way, hoping to all hell it didn't sound as strangled as she felt. Bankotsu was too far gone anyways, his groans getting louder and louder before he came.

Kagome realized she never even pretended to climax. That wasn't typically a good thing.

Making up for it by providing Bankotsu with a litany of bad puns and sexy, post-coital talk, Kagome quietly shut the door to her room. The call ended and Kagome couldn't be more thankful. There was two minutes left of her shift, but no one was directed to her. She sighed in relief when she could take off the headset, flopping down onto her bed and trying to ignore the expression on that guy's face.

Who was he even? Obviously a friend of Sango's although they typically had a rule of no unplanned friends coming over. The reason for it was pretty much the shining example that occurred only minutes ago.

Kagome wanted the ground to eat her up. She wasn't _ashamed_ because this was her job. Okay, it wasn't conventional, but she made good money. She'd been at it long enough to know how to keep people on the line, to keep them talking and to give them at least a decent, fantasized world in which they could happily orgasm too. Did she care? No. She'd realized a long time ago that they were simply getting off on her voice and words.

Yura the phone sex operator was relatively well-off, did the job because she got bored easily, and she loved martinis, swimming and tanning. She preferred cats to dogs, voted conservative and hated soda of any kind. She talked approximately 20 guys off per four-hour shift, although today she managed 22.

The reason she wanted to momentarily disappear was because people always reacted funny to her. They either were disgusted by her or strangely interested. She'd dated far too many assholes who only liked to be with her so their sex could include her wide and relatively dirty vocabulary. The worst part was that they hadn't even really _known_ about her job, she'd just hinted at it.

It sucked. And this really hot guy she just ran into? He was probably thinking some crude things about her, even if they weren't sexual. Her first words to him were ' _fuck me baby'_.

Kagome smothered her face into her pillow, wondering if the remaining eighty pages of her anthropology readings would do themselves if she passed out on top of her book.

* * *

None of this would've happened if Kagome didn't always feel so guilty for something that wasn't even her fault. She blamed that fact on her mother, who was too kind for the world. She never stopped smiling and would go out of her way to help someone else in need. Or, frankly, even if they weren't in need. Her mother simply _gave_ all the time without expecting anything back.

Kagome wasn't a replica of her, but sometimes it could get close. She had a guilty conscience at times, especially if she ruined something for someone. If she got a bad grade on a group project, Kagome would go insane about it, talking to the professor until she yelled her mark up. When there was only one locker left at the university gym – because there were _never enough_ – and another girl was looking at it at the same time Kagome's brown eyes had, she would give it up to the other person with a smile. Kikyo laughed at her for it, because her friend was pretty close to the exact opposite, but there was nothing she could do. It was _instinct_ almost, and telling herself to not help someone in need was like putting a gun to her head. It was impossible.

This was why she was in this horrible predicament. None of this would've happened had she not been so damn _helpful._

It had all happened so fast. One minute Kagome was waiting for the bus to come to a complete stop and the next she was stumbling backwards, someone having fallen themselves and knocking her off balance. She had been going back, back, until suddenly she hit a warm body. There was a loud curse from the man behind her, a mumbled apology from the redhead teenager in front of her, but Kagome could only focus on the scalding liquid now on her back.

"Watch what you're fucking doing," the man behind her had yelled.

"I am so, _so sorry_ but it wasn't my fault!" Kagome exclaimed, turning around to face whoever was behind her. It was a massive shock then when the person there had long silver hair, golden eyes and white, fuzzy dog ears. "My god, you've got to be fucking with me," Kagome had muttered, mostly to herself. Only the universe could be this cruel as to have her meet _him_ again, especially like this.

"By this point," the guy had said dryly, "I think I should, only because you tend to start every sentence that way with me."

Somehow it had all spiralled down from there. The bus driver was impatiently waiting for them to get off, calling out the street name again. Kagome noticed that the scalding liquid had been _coffee_ and it was all over his nice white shirt. And, somehow in this horrible mess, they had both gotten off at the same stop, because fate was a finicky bitch.

"You're Sango's friend, right?" she asked, trying for conversation that didn't revolve around sex.

"Inuyasha," the guy answered in response, nodding his head before looking down at his dripping coffee cup. "Sango and I are in the same program. Look, my skin is still burning from the coffee and I've got to bus it back to my place to change. So I'm going to go if I want to make the next bus headed home–"

"Come with me." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop and think it through.

Inuyasha stared at her rather pointedly. "Do you hear what comes out of your mouth?"

Yeah, and Kagome had wondered _how_ this all started. It was her guilty conscience, her unfiltered mouth and the fact that this guy had walked in on her talking a client off. Which, of course, didn't explain how things had changed from then until now because Inuyasha was unnecessarily sprawled out on her couch watching television _shirtless_ while his actual shirt was in the wash. And Kagome tried, she really had, but the twenty-something-year old beside her was attractive as hell and Kagome was sexually frustrated and in the end, she's not entirely sure _what_ happened.

Her brain tried to tell her that it had been all Inuyasha's fault, that he couldn't leave shit alone. He even had the nerve to ask who the lucky boyfriend was. And stupidly, she responded with a confused ' _no, why_?' Their problems all came back to the kitchen where they had first met each other and Kagome murmured inappropriate things while Inuyasha just stared like a creeper.

"So who were you talking to in the kitchen then?" Inuyasha prompted, pointedly not looking at her. There was a commercial on, something about a fascinating pair of scissors. "Must have been someone special if it wasn't your boyfriend."

"It's none of your business, frankly," Kagome replied, heart skipping a few beats. Why was he being so damned nosey?

Inuyasha smirked, smug with some sort of invisible victory. "Don't have to be all snappy about it. I was just curious."

"Bullshit."

And from there, the conversation deteriorated, quickly becoming some sort of battle of the wits that drowned out the television Inuyasha had been watching. And the fighting somehow turned into… _this_.

"You drive me crazy," Inuyasha said, his voice barely more than a growl. He held her hips tight, bruises sure to be left there afterwards, and then pounded into her hard.

The crazy he must've been talking about was undoubtedly the frustration Kagome felt. All she had been trying to do was be nice, and instead it ended up with – with _this._ Kagome wasn't sure if she liked him – hell, she didn't know him – but what little she did gave very negative points. Inuyasha was infuriatingly snappy with remarks. He was nosey and cocky and–

"Harder," she urged, wiggling in his hands, demanding more.

Lips were biting at hers, tongues dancing and she was grinding down against him, his hard cock hot inside of her. His clawed hands pushed up her top – the shirt that replaced the one that was in the wash with Inuyasha's – and she quietly moaned into his mouth, rolling her hips. Inuyasha seemed to love it, if the way his hands grabbed at her butt was any indication. He pulled her impossibly closer, dragging his mouth away to suck at the pulse point on her neck.

No longer being kissed within an inch of her life, Kagome had a moment of hazy thinking, of realizing that this was probably very strange. How did things like this happen to people?

His fingers tugged at her nipple, pulling hard and Kagome arched all the more, gasping out his name in nothing more than a whisper. She wasn't vocal, not like Yura the Phone Sex Operator was. This was just her, just Kagome, and maybe she needed that. Maybe she needed the separation and–

"Fuck, come on," Inuyasha panted wetly under her jaw.

Maybe she was a bit drunk on whatever cologne he was wearing, because dear god.

No waiting, no hesitating, Kagome lifted up and then sat down, pushing him deep within her and _oh god, oh god_ –

Inuyasha groaned as she keened, her legs begging to go wider, to force him deeper still. Her hands felt along his stomach, the indent of muscle and slick skin. He thrust inside of her, again and again and again and again, and Kagome ground down against him like she'd die without it.

"Please, _mm_ fuck," she whispered, practically begging, and Inuyasha kissed her, all teeth and wet and slick, and then they were moving fast and ruthless on the couch. He lifted her like she was nothing, holding her in the air as he pumped his cock in and out of her, each slap a damning noise in the otherwise silent house. The television wasn't even on, and Kagome had no time to consider when it was turned off before he thrust particularly deep.

"Christ," Inuyasha panted, claws dancing down the front of her body. His thumb dipped lower, parting her seam and teasing the clit. Kagome gasped, hardly expecting it, as she forced him to let her go so that she could take over. She rode him hard and fast, breath jolting out of her with each slap of skin, rubbing herself all along his body. He felt good – _amazing_ – and she'd almost forgotten how fantastic it felt to be filled, to be hot from the inside out and desperate for more. Her mind was shot to hell, and when Inuyasha leaned forward to suck at her breast, Kagome couldn't help the cry that escaped her mouth.

"Faster Kagome," Inuyasha whispered when he pulled back, then licking a long, teasing strip of his tongue against her nipple. His hand left her clit, going back to her hips to guide her up and down. "I want you begging for it– _fuck_."

At this point she was going to. It just wasn't enough, not in this position. She wanted to feel every inch of him buried inside of her. She wanted to feel this way forever, for her brain to stop thinking and analyzing so she could just _feel_ and _touch_ and whimper out incoherent sentences she wouldn't be reminded of later. She grabbed at his chest, prodding and scratching. Slowly climbing until she reached his neck, she pulled him down, closer. _On top, damn it_.

Somehow Inuyasha got the idea. Grip tightening even harder, he twisted them around until she was flat on the couch, legs splayed wide with him settled between her. Arms looping around her thighs he lifted her, growling at the feel of her body so tightly wrapped around him. "I want to hear you," he murmured, doing nothing more than rolling his hips, pushing deep inside of her, teasing.

"What?" Kagome asked, squeezing her eyes shut. Why was he talking, they did not need to talk through this. She really didn't need to think too hard about what was going on, mostly because she hadn't been thinking for any of this from the start.

"Tell me," he whispered, leaning down to suck on her breast. Inuyasha thrust once, shallow and not nearly enough. "What do you want?"

Opening her dark brown eyes, Kagome stared into Inuyasha's golden ones. They were dark, large and boring into her, and it clicked into her brain suddenly. He had heard her talk before in the kitchen with her client and now that's all he wanted.

Was she even remotely okay with that?

Inuyasha decided to break the silence, tugging her closer and then slamming into her, setting up a slow and torturous pace. Kagome groaned, scrambling to lean up and kiss him when he held back, thrust into her harder and sending her up along the couch.

"Oh god, _again_ ," she gasped, digging in her heels, thrumming as he listened. Every thrust brought sparks along her body, a hazy feeling in her head that echoed the pleasure she felt. "Come on Inuyasha, just fuck me already."

The half-demon moaned on top of her, losing all restraint. His lips crashed into hers as she fucked her, hard and unrelenting and Kagome decided that she really didn't care what she had to say as long as he _didn't stop_. Whatever she tried to say was lost in the push-pull of their bodies, the pants that danced across heated flesh. "Kagome, please– _fuck_ –"

But she was too gone for words. She grabbed his hips, arched her back and then took control for herself. She was desperate, riding a high she hadn't felt in so long. Digging in her heels she slid along his body, forcing his thrusts deeper inside of her and controlling it. She pulled him deeper, held him closer, and rode his cock. She was gasping, keening, _needing_ –

"Jesus Christ," Inuyasha hissed out, his hips stuttering to a complete stop as he grabbed her, held her so close that she could barely breathe. He came with a shuddering force, his brain turning offline as he let the sensations override, let them lull him into sated relaxation.

"Don't stop, you _ass_ ," Kagome whined, pushing against him, begging for more. She was so close and if Inuyasha was going to be some selfish pig she was going to scratch his damn eyes out. Suddenly he was pushing her down further into the couch, his one hand just below her breasts while the other slid lower. Kagome gasped at the first feel of his fingers brushing against her clit, unable to keep her mouth shut from a litany of curses and dirty promises. His fingers teased around her opening, the slick from the lube on the condom wetting them. He leaned down, licking a trail up the valley of her breasts while he returned to her clit, performing teasing little circles, relentless in the pressure.

"What was that?" the half-demon asked, smirking as he looked up at her.

Kagome ran her hands through his hair, unable to break the smouldering gaze. Inuyasha was hot as hell, and the sight of him down between her legs was not something she wanted to forget. "Stay right there," she murmured, eyes closing as the pressure built. Every nerve ending was on fire, finely tuned to the silver-haired man on top of her.

"I don't think so," Inuyasha whispered, sucking the skin along her collarbone as he slowly pulled out. It was a shock to her system, and she was just about to yell at him when suddenly his fingers were there, pumping inside of her and making her writhe beneath him. She was already so close, so desperate and _not yet_ –

Kagome cried out, hands tugging hard on the long silver strands as she came. "Oh fuck," she whispered, panting as she tried to let her body settle, let the thrum of energy that had built inside of her subside into blissful looseness.

Coming down from the high was slow and languid. Kagome relaxed her hands and felt the strands slip between her fingers. Okay, so this had just happened. It wasn't a big deal – accidents happened all the time and while this was _certainly_ an accident, it was _not_ something she would take back because _Christ._

The loud buzzer announcing that the washing load was done ended the calm silence. Kagome should've realized something was up, that this wouldn't simply end a bit awkward and a bit shy.

Inuyasha chuckled. "I just realized something."

 _Bad. Bad. Bad._ "What?"

"I had been planning on going to the gym, right? So I have a clean t-shirt in my bag that I could've just switched into." Kagome floundered somewhat, unwilling to open her eyes because until she did so she was calm and relaxed and temporarily swimming in bliss. She would take it for as long as she could.

Of course, the silver-haired guy continued. "Mind you, this was a lot better than just studying. I can see why you do so well at work."

Kagome sat up abruptly, pushing herself off the couch and wincing at the feel. Things couldn't get worse, not with the way lubricant and her own come was wet between her legs, threatening to slide down. _Oh god_. But he mentioned her job – _her job_ – and no one was supposed to know. "What did you just say?" Even if he had heard her in the kitchen, putting two and two together would still be hard. The job wasn't exactly _common_. Who immediately jumped to the conclusion of a phone sex operator?

Inuyasha gave her a look, his face crunched up like he smelled something bad. _Sex_ , probably. The living room reeked of it and if Kikyo and Sango found out? Oh dear god, no. "You mean you're not a phone sex person? Or something?" He waved his one hand dismissively, using the other to remove and tie off the condom. Where had the condom even _come from_?

She had no response at all. Only her two roommates knew and that was because they _had_ to. There was a reason it was kept a secret because if others knew or found out– She couldn't imagine. Men weren't always subtle. Women were generally bitches.

"It was a bit obvious since you were–" he waved his hand again, flailing as if to describe it, "–talking and panting and doing nothing to yourself. It could've been a boyfriend and you were just suffering through but you said you didn't have one. I can't imagine you'd suffer willingly for any other reason. Also, you were wearing a headset."

"No, you can't–" Kagome cut herself off, shaken. She never had a plan for if it leaked out. "You can't tell anyone." Inuyasha rolled his eyes and it just wasn't good enough. She reached out, grabbed the cheeks on his face, firm but gentle, and felt herself trembling. "You asshole, this could ruin my life. Don't pretend it's not a big deal because it is to me."

"Do you honestly think I care enough to say anything?" Inuyasha scoffed and pushed off her hands, standing. "Newsflash: it's not important. Why would I say something so stupid? I'm not a fucking gossip."

"Well thank god for small favours," Kagome snapped, still tense. Inuyasha could say and promise all he wanted, but they were nothing to each other. He didn't owe her anything.

The silver-haired half-demon rolled his eyes and grabbed his jeans, sliding them on, "Look, this was fun and all–"

Kagome's laugh interrupted, sharp and loud. "Right, _that's_ what it was."

"Oh fuck you," Inuyasha carelessly sent back, smirking seconds later and looking thoughtful. "Oh wait…"

"You're an asshole," she grit through clenched teeth.

"I hope you don't say that to your clients. It would certainly ruin the afterglow. What do you give them, huh? What bullshit comes out of your mouth that gets them so riled up?"

"Why don't you ask yourself, since you were _begging_ for it," Kagome snapped. "Have to say, you're the first for that prize."

"Fuck you!"

"You already _have_!"

Inuyasha growled and rummaged through his gym bag for a shirt. Throwing it on, he grabbed his stuff and headed for the door. It simply infuriated her all the more because it was her house. She should be throwing _him_ out.

"I have your damn shirt, what am I supposed to do with it?" Kagome screamed, struggling back into a top and underwear – which didn't cover nearly enough but was better than nothing. She chased after him. "Stop, you bastard! What am I–"

"Keep it!" Inuyasha yelled, yanking open the front door and glaring at her with golden eyes. "It can be like a trophy for the first and probably _last_ time you'll ever get laid."

"I _hate_ you!" Kagome screamed, grabbing the nearest object – a romantic paperback, one of Sango's favourite guilty pleasures and _oh the irony_ – and throwing it at his head.

The resounding slam of the door made her scream in anger some more. With the paperback left forgotten on the mat by their door, Kagome stomped into the living room to remove any and all traces of Inuyasha from her life.

* * *

Inuyasha would've been more than happy if it had ended just like that. He didn't need that damn shirt and he certainly didn't need Kagome in his life. She was clearly more trouble than she was worth, which was why he hated Sango inexplicably when she spotted the raven-haired woman walking across campus. He and Sango had been talking about their current engineering assignment they were working on together when Sango smiled, flipping back her long brown hair and yelled, "Kagome! Hey, come here!"

Damn it.

To be fair, Kagome didn't look all that happy either. Her dark brown eyes minutely glanced at him before she turned her full attention to her roommate, smiling. It goaded him, incredibly so for reasons Inuyasha couldn't explain. Kagome was an anal, annoying woman who thought the world revolved around her. As if he would talk about her to his friends – why the fuck would he? The fact that she talked men off for a living sure as fuck wasn't going to change that.

Of course, it had been her job that really screwed him up. Ever since he last saw her, he'd had _dreams_ damn it, and fantasies that were no longer faceless. It was dark hair, small breasts, big hips and that _voice_. The way she begged for him, so pretty riding his cock had been something he couldn't forget, couldn't escape.

It was madness.

"I'll see you at home," Kagome said, snapping him out of his thoughts. She was waving at Sango, heading towards the Arts Quad with her perfect ass swaying in nice, dark blue jeans. _Shit._

"Well, it's great to see you being social," Sango muttered sarcastically. "Considering you scared the crap out of her when you were last at our place, you'd think you'd be nicer."

Which, really, wasn't his fault. Sango hadn't actually _heard_ what Inuyasha had, and he played dumb because Sango already had a murderous look in her magenta eyes for 'getting lost'. He also secretly hated being punched by her, because _ow_.

"Hello?" Sango asked, snapping her fingers in his face. "Anybody home?"

"You're right." Inuyasha didn't think too much about the plan formulating in his head, didn't think about what it would mean or what the consequences could be.

Sango was clearly confused. "About what?"

"I should say hi," he replied, taking off at an inhuman dash across the field to stand just behind Kagome. Even if Sango was confused and questioning, there was no way she'd catch up to them in time.

But now that he was there, he didn't quite know what to do. Silently he followed her, just until they made it into an older building with mud in the doorway. He smirked and tapped her shoulder, waiting. Inuyasha wasn't disappointed.

"Just what I need," Kagome muttered, turning pointedly away and continuing to wherever she was going. And honestly, minus the sarcasm from that statement and she really, _really_ was on a roll with him and impressive first statements. "I have class in five minutes so I don't have time for this."

"I was only going to say hi," Inuyasha commented lightly, unashamedly following beside her. "Hi."

"You're an asshole." Kagome gripped her backpack tighter, lips frowning when the thick crowd of students blocked any chance of escape. Inuyasha was almost pleased by this. "What do you want?"

"Nothing in particular. Sango said I was being unsociable towards you, so I had to fix it. She can't think anything is up or, you know, people would find out."

"That we–" Kagome rolled her eyes. " _That's_ not the part I care about people knowing, and I know _you know_ that, so stop being obtuse." She paused, bottom lip rolling between her teeth that Inuyasha couldn't help but notice. "Although, omitting the couch part would be favourable."

Inuyasha just hummed noncommittally. "So I can kiss and tell about our little adventure? Tell them how needy and begging for it you were–" The grasp she suddenly had on his hair shut him up and he certainly didn't expect her to drag him to the side, the wall indented slightly for the entrance to the men's bathroom.

"No!" she hissed, glaring at him. Her brown eyes held fury that looked so familiar and Inuyasha wanted to smirk again because this Kagome he knew and knew _well_. It had started and ended with anger after all. "Don't you dare! I'm just saying I'm not embarrassed by it. Mistakes happen."

And _that_ he wasn't expecting. It pissed him off because Inuyasha was a lot of things, but never a goddamn mistake. His few drunken encounters, the random girls at bars he took home for the night, _none of them_ ran away horrified. Kagome was just that though.

It wouldn't do.

Grabbing her wrist, Inuyasha hip-checked the bathroom door open and dragged her inside. His first thought was that he was insane. The next was that no one was there. Without hesitating he opened one of the few stall doors, dragged her inside and then pressed her up against it while simultaneously undoing her jeans. He was nothing if not a multi-tasker.

"What are you doing?" Kagome hissed, sounding outraged. She smacked his hands but it didn't matter because he was already successful, moving his hands to push the backpack off her shoulders. "No! Stop it, damn you!"

Inuyasha silenced her with a biting kiss, his fingers shoving into her pants so that he could slid a finger inside of her. He could practically feel the wince, but he crooked the digit, pressing against puckered flesh again and again until she sighed into his mouth. Pulling away, he whispered wetly in her ear, "Don't you dare be quiet for this."

Kagome shook her head, her eyes closed and face lax with what Inuyasha was going to name pleasure. "No– We're in _public, you moron_ –"

Inuyasha nibbled on her ear, tugging not all that gently as he crooked his finger again, added another into the wet heat. "I want to hear you." His free hand skimmed under her bra, clawing lightly at a nipple. Kagome gasped and with an encouraging nip along her jaw line she moaned, not loud enough for his liking but anyone in the bathroom could certainly hear. Inuyasha hid his smirk in her neck.

He kissed her pulse point, sucking greedily on the pale flesh and pushing her higher against the door. It made Kagome keen, back arching into his touch.

"I can't–" He cut himself off by kissing her, delighting in the sounds she made. It all went straight to his dick, which was aching and straining in his pants for attention. Classes had already begun. No one would really be in the halls now. Inuyasha dropped his own backpack to the floor, removing his fingers from her to get what he needed.

"Inuyasha," Kagome mumbled, blinking and starting to look a little bit horrified. "What? I have class, we can't– _Not here_ , hell–"

But it was far too late for that. Inuyasha grabbed the condom from his backpack, which he hadn't been the one to put there – _thank you Miroku for being so sex-crazed_ _and making me your official wingman_ _with backup_. It wasn't like he thought this would happen – not even close – but now he couldn't be bothered to care. Undoing his jeans and sliding down his boxers, Inuyasha smirked at the strangled noise Kagome made in front of him. She talked about the reasons it shouldn't happen, but in the end she wasn't moving, wasn't putting her clothes back on.

Inuyasha rolled on the condom, hissing at the feel of his nearly untouched cock and the straining need he had to be inside of her. Turning back around to face her, Kagome looked possibly better than she had the first time – all swollen lips, breasts askew in her bra, undone pants and dishevelled hair.

Oh god how he wanted her.

"Turn around," he said gently, grabbing at her hips and arranging her so that she was faced away from him, hands against the stall door and ass sticking out towards him. He kissed the back of her neck, the raised bone of her spine, his fingers curling into the band of her infuriatingly hot jeans. Sliding them down along with her underwear, he wasted no time in lightly biting the indent of her lower back, the curve of her right shoulder. He slid a finger in her once more, testing, feeling her out before he removed it to hold the base of his cock and line himself up.

Pushing himself in was like blacking out and feeling _everything_. His heavy, throbbing cock was shoved inside in one long, drawn out thrust. The heat, the tightness of her body drove him insane. He started thrusting with abandon, hands on her hips to keep him steady. Beneath him Kagome groaned, tilting her hips and matching him thrust for thrust. It was intoxicating, breathtaking, and in that moment there was no one as beautiful as her.

Bending over so that his chest was pressed against her back, Inuyasha groaned at the angle on his next thrust. "Kagome, god, I need to hear you, I _need_ –"

And just like that she was speaking, begging, _pleading_ for more – of him, his words, his cock shoved deep inside of her.

"Don't you stop on me," Kagome panted, wrecked and ruined and _fuck_ the things her voice did to his dick. "Fuck me, _oh god_ , that's all? Fuck me, Inuyasha. I want to feel you for _days_."

No one said shit like that in real life, Inuyasha thought, but he was too preoccupied by the way her ass fit snugly against his hips, how the slap of skin on skin was deafeningly loud in the otherwise quiet bathroom.

The sound of the door opening made him stop for the barest of seconds, footfall on tiles breaking the spell before Inuyasha rocked into her harder than before, making the stall door shake and Kagome groan wantonly.

"Oh you want this," he said, low and sure, seductive. He licked the back of her neck, panting hotly to make her shiver. "Tell me."

"I want you," Kagome moaned, "to fuck me harder. I know you can do better than this, you – _Oh fuck_."

There was a curse before the bathroom door swung open and closed again, leaving them alone once more. Inuyasha didn't hold back now, thrusting in and out with sharp, shallow strokes. Kagome writhed and whined beneath him, pleading and egging him on until finally she screamed, the sound muffled by her lips against her arm. Inuyasha listened to it – _to her_ – and couldn't stop the wave that was crashing over him, sending him into oblivion. Inuyasha's climax was sharp and powerful, his cock straining in the condom with his release and slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled out.

Kagome groaned and then laughed, full of self-deprecation and shock. "I can't believe this," she murmured, mostly to herself. She grabbed toilet paper as Inuyasha dealt with the condom, shrugging before flushing it down the toilet. He was greeted with Kagome's shaking head.

"What?" he asked, daring her to say something.

"That's what clogs toilets, you know," Kagome commented dryly. She paused, brown eyes searching him a little more carefully. "Want to explain what that was all about?"

Inuyasha paused, as if he was actually thinking about it. He most certainly wasn't because he knew, _he knew_. "Nope. Just felt like it. Enjoy your class."

Fixing up his hair and shirt as he walked out of the bathroom with his backpack haphazardly hanging off one shoulder, Inuyasha smirked.

Once was a mistake.

Twice was a potential trend, regardless if it was regrettable or not.

And Inuyasha was _never_ a mistake.

* * *

Kagome would like to say that she was surprised when she and Inuyasha crossed paths at the outside track. Kagome had never seen him there before, but the way he moved around all of the holes and bumps in the poorly maintained track made her think they were just never synced with each other.

Apparently, something had changed.

Kagome also wanted to say that she was surprised when he looked her up and down, and she had maybe two seconds of proper, cohesive thought process before she dragged him to some hidden corner of the field, behind the building and snug up close with a gate in dire need of painting.

Kagome needed to say a lot of things, but rather she dropped to her knees of her own volition and sucked his cock until he screamed. Inuyasha reciprocated the orgasm giving like a proper gentleman and after that, neither of them felt much like running.

Kagome was not stupid enough to think that this was just a three-time thing, that nothing was going to ever happen from there.

The shower ran horribly cold when she washed off and yet, it was oddly fitting.

* * *

 **12 Days of Witchyness:** I'm currently taking requests on my blog for the 12 Days of Witchyness (because seriously, guys, I need the time to write). Follow it for details on my upcoming works, snippets of my next story _That Flesh of Mine_ , and more.

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	2. Part II

**Author's Note:** I'm going away on a short vacation so I wanted to post before I left! I have been SO SLAMMED though at work so I haven't had time to respond to your amazing, incredibly kind comments yet. Please bear with me, I will respond to everyone soon :) Your feedback has been just so wonderful; guys, I adore you.

* * *

 **Pennies and Dimes**

 **Part II**

* * *

They were in a closet. A _closet_ of all things at some rarely used library in the fucking microfiche section, and Inuyasha couldn't care less. His back was pressed against the wall, skin cool against the brick but _fuck_ , nowhere else was. Kagome's hot, wet mouth covered his cock, licking and sucking and _goddamn_ –

That thing she kept doing with her tongue melted his brain.

He tugged on her long black hair, probably just the wrong side of painful but this was it. He didn't even know how long they'd been in the closet, how long Sango was probably waiting in the study room for him to show up. Surely he was late for the group meeting but fuck if he cared. This was so much better.

"Close," he whispered out and goddamn it he was torn between wanting to come _right the fuck now_ and having Kagome's mouth wrapped around him like this for a few more hours. She hummed and did that thing with her tongue again, enough to stop him from talking for the rest of the day. He may never recover. Looking down at her, shirt half off, hair falling out of its ponytail, red swollen lips on display…

Kagome pulled off of him with a slick pop, looking so horribly debauched he was actually indescribably pleased with himself. Yet, why was she stopping? She _knew_ he was meeting with his group now because he had told her the second he saw her, and he mentioned that anything between them would make him very late.

Well then. Was this payback for making her miss that class that week or so ago?

But her eyes told a different story. The dark brown, nearly black orbs met with his golden ones, clashing. Ever so slowly, without breaking the gaze, she leaned forward. Her tongue licked at the head before her lips wrapped around his dick, so tight and perfect as she slid down to try and take all of him in, eyes never leaving him.

His orgasm was hardly surprising after all this time, but _fuck_ if it didn't take him over. He bit his lip to keep as quiet as he could possibly manage in such a situation. It didn't really work. What maybe got to him was the fact that she swallowed him down, _all of it_ , milking him for what it was worth while he tried and mostly failed to stay standing. He was mostly on the floor when she pulled off, and Inuyasha sank down completely, leaning his head against the cold wall.

He needed a second.

"Maybe one day this will happen in a bed," Kagome commented lightly, a joke. He wasn't sure if she was trying to be funny or not, but with the way her voice rasped slightly, it was certainly an unnecessary tease.

"You never know," he replied. Inuyasha stared at her then, appraising his work. Earlier he'd made her come twice, but he thought it took a hell of a lot more effort to make her happy than him.

He was clearly owed another blowjob.

About to say as much, Inuyasha blinked when Kagome stood up and took off her shirt. She pulled the rest of her hair out of the elastic, shaking it. Inuyasha was turned on and that was just…awkward and impossible and _why the hell was this happening again_? "What are you doing?"

Kagome shot him an incredulous look, fixing her bra before putting her shirt back on. "I'm trying to make myself look presentable. You should do the same, don't you have that meeting?"

Smirking, Inuyasha _knew_ this was some sort of payback, all meant to piss him off. Strangely, he was more amused than anything else. "Yeah, although I'm not sure how successful you'll be."

The raven-haired beauty laughed and started to put her hair back up. "Speak for yourself." Kagome paused, looking down at herself as if to ensure she was ready before grabbing her backpack. "You going to move sometime, or am I just that good?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and stood up, tucking himself back in. His loose t-shirt fixed itself for the most part but his hair was potentially a lost cause.

"You're hopeless," Kagome muttered under her breath, grabbing at him until he turned his back to her.

Inuyasha was about to growl something along the lines of _what the fuck_ when he felt his hair gently pull back, hands skimming through it. He frowned. "Are you brushing my hair with your fingers?"

"Hardly," Kagome replied dryly. "I'm making it less obvious about what happened to you. I am the one that did this in the first place."

His ears twitching on the top of his head, Inuyasha listened for Kagome's movements, her calm breathing. She was very different from when they had sex – which was always. It was those moments afterwards, the ones where neither of them normally stuck around for. "What time is it?" he asked, for a lack of anything else to say.

The hands in his hair left, the sound of a zipper from her bag opening and closing. "Eight minutes until four. What time was your meeting?"

"Three-thirty." Inuyasha feared checking his own phone which was on vibrate. The angry calls and texts would be overwhelming. Sango was not a force to go against. It would probably just be better to feign ignorance and pretend he just hadn't checked. Better yet, he shouldn't check at all and just run to the study room. It was three floors up still.

"I'll probably see you around then eventually," Kagome said, smiling gently. "Have fun at your meeting."

"Sango is going to murder me," Inuyasha responded, glaring at her. "What can I do to not make her so mad?"

The light chuckle was _almost_ too evil. Inuyasha feared the worst. "There's no way out of it," Kagome stated, shrugging. At least she looked a little sad, a little worried about his fate. He may not live to see tomorrow, or to have sex with Kagome again.

That would be sad.

…The first part, not the second. Or both?

"Can you hear anyone out there?" she asked, hand on the doorknob. Inuyasha only had to focus for a moment, ears twitching, before he shook his head in a negative. Who the hell needed microfiche anyways? "Good luck then."

"Yeah, thanks," Inuyasha mumbled sarcastically, following her outside and bending to pick up his bag on the way. The bottom of it was all dirty and dusty from the very unused floor of the closet. The fact that this closet wasn't, in fact, _locked_ said something for the microfiche collection at the university.

Taking the stairs up, Inuyasha tried very hard to think of an excuse. There wasn't much of one, mostly because Sango knew his schedule better than he did. He'd had class a while before this, so there was no time to go home in between. He _had_ to have been on campus, but doing what that would take up his time? Not only that, but make him _late_.

Fuck, he was screwed.

The study hall was the third one down to the right, the room they typically liked to book because it had a whiteboard that they could run their ideas on and try to work out solutions. Inuyasha hadn't even been able to touch the door handle before Sango yanked it open, face livid.

"Where have you _been_?" she demanded. "And you better have a good excuse because we have been making solid progress here and the last thing I need is for you to slack off– Oh my god, is that a hickey?"

Inuyasha blinked, stared and didn't move. He was like that deer in the headlights, who knew death was coming but was too frozen in fear to save itself. His entire group – Miroku, Hiten, Manten and Jakotsu – now stood in the doorway, watching the show.

"Do _not_ tell me you ditched us for _sex_!" Sango wailed, flinging the door open further and then stomping back inside. "Look at his face, he's flushed! Miroku, what the fuck? I thought you told me he was saving himself for marriage!"

Oh dear god.

"You sly dog," Miroku cheered, fist-pumping before digging his hand into Inuyasha's shoulder. "Man, I didn't think you had it in you."

"You make it sound like my first time!" Inuyasha replied, rolling his eyes.

"It wasn't?" Hiten snickered.

"Fuck you," Inuyasha shot back, flipping him off with his middle finger and looking back at Sango. "Sorry I'm late."

If anything, he made it worse. Sango actually took a deep breath, let it out and then shook her head. "Please tell me the girl was at least worth it. She's your girlfriend, right? You honestly wouldn't ditch us for some quickie."

Huh. How did he properly answer that? Kagome wasn't just a quickie, because they tended to be anything but _quick_. Not only that, but they were somewhat regular. He'd find her or she'd find him, they would find the nearest abandoned spot and then fuck. Sometimes it wasn't even all that abandoned.

"Yeah _buddy_!" Miroku yelled, forcing Inuyasha into a high-five. "You don't have to call her again, _nice_."

"I never–" Inuyasha stopped and rolled his eyes. "Can we just start the meeting?"

"I'd actually rather know who you're screwing," Jakotsu commented blithely, giving a cheery smile. "It's a hell of a lot more interesting than this."

"I'd rather not."

Sango raised an eyebrow. "So definitely a girlfriend then and you didn't tell me? I thought we were friends."

" _Dude_ , not a _girlfriend_ ," Miroku whined, rubbing his forehead like Inuyasha had just been sentenced to death. Potentially, in his mind, he had been.

"She's not my girlfriend," Inuyasha growled, but before Sango could open her mouth to protest or say anything else ridiculous, he cut her off. "No! She's not my girlfriend but we're…friends. We know each other, and stuff. We sometimes even talk. Before. Or, uh, after. But we're friends."

They definitely weren't friends, but fuck it if he could explain it any better.

" _Really_?"

" _YEAH BUDDY!_ " Miroku cheered, his arms up and positioned in a 'V' for victory. "That's how you get shit done!"

Jakotsu sighed and looked at Miroku with slight disdain. "And that, my friend, is why _you_ never get laid."

* * *

 _This is getting kind of complicated_ , Kagome thought as her anthropology professor droned on and on about the proper procedure for artifact extraction. _I am so screwed_. She stared at the name written once in tight cursive, the name her mind supplied while she was idly doodling. _Inuyasha_.

 _Fuck._

It made sense but that hardly helped to bother her less. Kagome had been thinking about the silver-haired engineering student for far longer than was necessary. She had had that problem yesterday too, and the day before that after their little rendezvous in the library closet. And on that note, what the hell was wrong with her? Kagome was not an exhibitionist, not at all but apparently… _apparently_.

 _Fuck._

And now she had scribbled Inuyasha's name in her notebook like a school girl's first crush. It was depressing.

"Higurashi, are you feeling okay? You're pale." Hojo Ueda poked her gently in the shoulder, getting her attention. The guy had a nice smile and he was smiling at her now, worry laced through it.

Kagome nodded her head, shrugging to make it seem like nothing. The fact that her mind was starting to implode was hardly comment-worthy. But…Hojo was a cute guy. He was taller than her – not up to Inuyasha's height – but that hardly held any bearing. He had nice blue eyes and sandy brown hair that was short and manageable, unlike Inuyasha's stupidly long hair. He was in her program. They had similar interests. Hojo had always been a bit flirty, but nothing beyond that. Admittedly, he was shy and blushing whenever Kagome made a comment that was borderline crass.

What if Kagome gave him a chance, or if he gave her a chance? Hojo was a great guy. They could…they could try dating. Why not? They could grab dinner, probably a movie to test the waters. He had a car she thought, so Hojo would drive her home, kiss her goodnight and the night would be perfect and lovely.

Come to think of it, why not invite Hojo inside? The past month had been fantastic with all he sex she was having, and surely Hojo…

Oh god. Kagome stifled a complaint under her breath because…no. She couldn't imagine it. Kagome tried, rather desperately in the middle of her anthropology class to picture Hojo having his way with her and it just wasn't showing. Hell, she had more sex outside of a bedroom than in one this past month and a half, and the thought of Hojo doing that made her want to laugh. Yeah right. She'd have a better chance marrying Inuyasha.

And seriously, the half-demon needed to disappear from her brain. Kagome knew his schedule by now, although admittedly she knew little else. Inuyasha was someone she had casual sex with and just because she rather enjoyed it – _enjoyed him_ – it meant nothing. She was probably having some sort of belated sexual awakening, or– or– whatever.

"Kagome, you're worrying me. Class was dismissed, are you even paying attention?" Hojo asked, not unkindly.

This was becoming really embarrassing. "I'm fine," she tried to assure him, forcing a smile. "I just have a lot on my mind." Packing up her stuff, Kagome followed Hojo out but turned right instead of left. Hojo gave her a strange look but she merely waved. "I'm going to have to skip the library. I'll see you tomorrow!" He probably yelled something back at her but Kagome didn't care. This had to be tested; she needed to figure things out. She didn't get distracted this easily so something…something was different.

The crowd was building, people squeezing their way through the halls. Even with humans and demons of every shape and size, it was easy to spot him, to see long silver hair and golden eyes. They widened the moment he caught sight of her. "Kagome, what's going on?"

"You're done classes for the rest of the day, right?" she asked without preamble. It just wasn't like them to beat around the bush.

Inuyasha gave her a weird look but nodded. "I was planning on heading to the gym."

"It's alright," Kagome replied, grabbing his wrist and dragging him away. "I'll give you a workout that's way more fun."

Somehow they made it to the bus, on it and off of it. Kikyo was home but like usual she was doing some sort of dance workout in front of the television in the living room. It wasn't hard to sneak by her, Inuyasha grabbing Kagome's butt as they ran up the stairs.

She was trying to figure things out, or that was what Kagome told herself. But when Inuyasha wasted no time in removing their clothes, rolling on the condom and slamming into her so hard the headboard smashed into the wall, Kagome realized this wasn't helping at all. If anything it made it worse because all she could do was stifle her screams for more while her mind uselessly supplied that she wanted _that_ in more ways than one.

* * *

Parties simply weren't his thing. The only reason he was here was because Sango invited him. Miroku was there too, apparently getting them drinks but he had yet to see the blue-eyed man again. He often tended to disappear at parties, normally with various women. It was expected, if not the norm.

"Inuyasha!" Sango yelled from somewhere behind. The brunette made her way through the crowd, a leggy raven-haired woman behind her. "Hey, you came!"

"Miroku is persistent," he replied, shrugging at her.

Sango laughed and rolled her eyes. "Of course, I'd hardly expect anything else. By the way, this is my roommate Kikyo. I don't think you've ever officially met before. Kikyo, this is the asshole I was talking to you about."

"Ah, pleasure," Kikyo said, extending a hand. Inuyasha noted it was cool and a bit wet, probably from the sweat off the beer bottle she was holding. And speaking of beer, Miroku better appear–

"My dearest," Miroku purred, almost on cue as he sidled up behind Sango. "How great it is to see you."

Sango bit her lip to hide a smile but didn't quite manage it. Lightly she smacked his arm and laughed. "Don't put those moves on me. I know exactly what you're like!"

For a split second, the black-haired man hesitated, but then he grinned cheekily and wrapped an arm around her. "Right. Inuyasha, here's your beer."

"Where's yours?" the half-demon asked, staring at the suspiciously low amount of golden liquid in the bottle.

"Finished like a champ," Miroku replied. When Inuyasha only raised a brow, he continued. "Oh come on, drink up. You look like someone kicked your puppy."

"Fitting," Kikyo commented dryly, taking a swig of her own beer. "Where's Kagome?"

"Didn't you see her back at the house?" Sango asked, raising her voice to be heard over the crowd. "She was getting all dressed up. I had to leave without her. She should be here by now though."

"Oh god, not another asshole," Kikyo muttered, taking a long sip before sighing. "We need to start doing background checks."

Inuyasha smirked, though he tried to stop it. She was dressing up for him now, _really_? That was interesting, considering what they were to each other. Inuyasha found that he didn't mind. So what if they were toeing the line a little? It was all for fun. That's what he kept telling himself anyways, though he wasn't sure if it was having the desired effects.

"Not on this one," Sango said to Kikyo. "I think it's that Hojo guy from her class, the really quiet one?"

Kikyo snorted and turned, but whatever she said in response wasn't heard because _who the fuck was Hojo?_ They weren't exclusive but– but they kind of _were_ in a way. Or weren't they? Why hadn't she just told him, he'd obviously back off. It wasn't a big deal; they weren't _dating_ or anything. Or was he just on the side? The thought made him furious.

"Shit, I'm in trouble."

Inuyasha momentarily left his thoughts to look at Miroku, who now magically had a beer in hand. Sango and Kikyo were gone, and since when had that happened? "What?" he asked, trying to focus on his apparently forlorn friend.

Miroku picked at the label on the bottle and sighed. "Sango thinks I'm joking."

He didn't understand what that had to do with anything. "About what, exactly?"

"You know, the normal stuff. I hit on her and she thinks I'm doing it for kicks."

"And don't you normally?" At the glare Miroku shot him, Inuyasha took another swig of beer, sadly noting it was almost gone. "So, what, you like her?"

Miroku gave him a pointed look. "Do you see that ass or are you blind?"

"Exactly," Inuyasha answered, wondering why he wasn't drunker for this conversation. "You talk like that so obviously she's going to brush it off. Do you _like_ her?"

Miroku went back to picking at the bottle label. It was like dealing with a child, minus the warm milk in exchange for a beer.

"Look, I'm not going to discuss crap like this with you," Inuyasha stated, "but you should just take her out. And be serious about the whole thing. Then tell her. She likes you too, probably. I don't know _what_ she sees in you–"

"Jealous?" Miroku asked, a teasing glint in his blue eyes.

"Not even remotely." It actually made him angry that Kagome came to mind. Seriously, _what the fuck_?

"Huh," the black-haired guy murmured. "So who's this girl? I've seen the hickeys man, don't lie to me. Also, you're looking around like a lost dog. Is this girl coming?" Inuyasha shrugged, deciding that noncommittal was probably the best way to go about this. He should've known, however, that his friend just wouldn't simply let it drop. "Is it the one that made you late for our meeting?"

The answer to that was rather obvious, so Inuyasha nodded curtly and kept his gaze wandering. His entire body was thrumming with energy – angry and frustrated – and she seemed to be the only one that managed to remedy it.

"Do I know her?" Miroku continued on, trying to sound casual but miserably failing. "Is she an engineering student? Because man, there aren't many females in our program."

"No." Was Kagome actually dressing up for this guy? Who was he anyways, someone shy and quiet and shit? That hardly seemed like someone that would hold her interest. This was the girl that talked guys off to make end's meet, who gave him fucking blowjobs metres away from the outdoor track where others were running. Kagome was clearly doing something stupid, but what if this Hojo guy was already a permanent thing? Sango and Kikyo didn't know about him, so how much did they really know about Kagome's love life? And if Hojo was a fixed thing, then what?

"You seem angry," Miroku murmured. "Are you guys already fighting?"

"That's actually how we tend to communicate," Inuyasha answered, not really thinking. "I'm pretty sure I hate her as much as I like her."

"Whoa, Inuyasha bud, that _can't_ be healthy–"

"I'll be back." Inuyasha gave Miroku his empty bottle and started to make his way towards the back door. The entire front of the house was packed with people, the layout of the student home poorly done so that everything vital was there the moment you stepped through the threshold. Any new people seemed to be coming from the back, so if Kagome was arriving, that was where he would find her.

It didn't take long.

Stunning in a tight black skirt and some top that made her breasts about a cup size larger, Inuyasha had to hesitate a moment before continuing on. He was pissed off; there was no doubt about it. The back of his mind begged the question as to _why_ , but why the hell would he care about that? She was talking to some girl in the middle of the room, and the conversation actually seemed to be going well when Inuyasha tapped Kagome on the shoulder and glared.

The raven-haired beauty stared at him, eyeliner making her brown eyes ridiculously large. He wanted to fuck her so bad, he was buzzing with it. "Do I know you?" she asked, lips lifting a little in a tease.

"Not at all," he snapped, grabbing her wrist and dragging her across the house. Kagome was remaining quiet, which was considerably good of her since making a scene would only hinder their progress of being subtle. Thankfully the stairs were so packed with people the entire length of it that it wasn't too obvious as they went up, his grip on her wrist still painfully tight. If anyone in their path even remotely thought of making a lewd comment about it, Inuyasha's deadly glare silenced them instantly.

When he locked them in some bedroom – a male's by the looks of it – Inuyasha nearly growled. But right now was not the time to talk. Whipping off his shirt, Inuyasha grabbed the fastenings on his jeans and quickly undid them. Kagome watched with wide eyes before finally catching up with the program, stripping her tank top. She went to slide off her skirt when he grabbed her, hands holding her hips as he pushed her back onto the bed.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Kagome asked, astonished and wary. It didn't stop her from arching her back the moment he roughly shoved the bra off of her breasts, taking one into his mouth and sucking tightly on the nipple.

Inuyasha had so much to say, and so many questions running through his mind – things he wanted to ask her, things he _knew_ he had to ask himself, but fuck it. Hands sliding up the inside of her skirt, he parted her thighs and slid two fingers in, teasing sensitive flesh he knew all too fucking well.

" _Oh god_ ," Kagome whispered, almost reverent. She twisted her hips, thighs trapped in the tight skirt, and it was one of the hottest things he'd ever seen, her trying to fuck herself on his fingers. Holy shit, this was happening _now_.

"Wait, let me," Kagome murmured, trying to push herself up on the bed as his fingers slid out. She leaned forward, hands on his hips to take his cock in her mouth but he shoved her back, letting her fall into the sheets. "Seriously? What is your problem?"

"Don't move," Inuyasha said, looking around the room. The nightstand was probably the best option and the half-demon felt only a little bit successful when he found a condom in there – and it wasn't even expired.

"What are you _doing_?" Kagome asked, looking at him like he was crazy. "Look, I don't know what's put you in such a mood but I am _so_ not into this if you're going to be–"

Inuyasha crushed his lips to hers, breaking the chain of irritated banter she was unnecessarily giving him. _Not the time_ , he thought to himself, hiking up her skirt so that it just barely covered her butt. She was wearing a thong –a lacy one – and was this really for some shy guy in her class?

"Inuyasha, for fuck's sake–"

"Touch me," he whispered, wetly across her mouth as he pulled back. "Do it."

The eyeliner was already a little smudged, but Inuyasha could only pay attention to the detail it brought out – the way she looked so sinfully innocent, and wasn't that a laugh? Kagome searched him for a moment, seemingly to find something. He didn't know what it could be, but she possibly found it because she licked her lips and then slowly reached out to touch his aching dick. The friction was almost too much, the wrong side of painful, but he needed the distraction and it certainly wasn't taking away from anything. Kagome took her time, slow upstrokes with twists that had him sucking in an involuntary breath.

The first tentative lick on the crown of his cock made him shudder, a moan roughly sliding out between parted lips. "Not that," he told her roughly, his hand gently raking through her hair and destroying whatever style she'd put it in. "Just your hand."

He could tell there was something rather snide that she wanted to say to him, but thankfully the raven-haired beauty remained quiet, the only sounds coming from outside of the door – the pounding music, the voices. Any minute someone would probably be up banging on the door for them to get out. He almost wanted to drag it all out to see what would happen.

Tossing the condom to her, he watched as she opened it with steady fingers before rolling it on, her hands instantly going to her skirt again to take it off. Inuyasha gently took hold of her wrists, pushing her back so that she was lying down. They were on the bed sideways, her head not even fully on the mattress. His clawed hands smoothed up her thighs, from her knees all the way to where the skirt started. It was so tightly wrapped around her that even parted there wasn't much room to manoeuvre.

"Want me to beg?" she whispered, sounding unbelievably wrecked when he barely even touched her. Her voice was silky and raw, a delicious invitation for more that normally had him crawling up the wall. Tonight though, he couldn't. "Because I want to feel you. I want you on top of me, fucking me into the mattress–"

"Please don't," Inuyasha said, just loud enough to cut through whatever else she was going to say.

Kagome narrowed her eyes at him. "What? All of a sudden you don't want–"

"Christ, just _shut up_ ," he hissed, lifting her hips and spreading her legs as wide as he could make them. He nestled his way between her, nudging at her entrance with his dick until finally, _finally_ –

"Mmm," Kagome hummed, clearly about to say something before she bit her lower lip. Inuyasha helped her resist temptation, bending down to kiss those pink lips. He pounded her into the mattress, unrelenting and unforgiving, but this was tonight and tonight only. She wouldn't speak and he wouldn't tell. It was just sex, just sex, just sex and _only sex_.

The mattress squeaked beneath them, far too loud but possibly unheard over the music. Her legs were so tight around him, her body so hot and wet and fucking _perfect_ for him that he couldn't last. Inuyasha didn't stop his orgasm, didn't try to hold back. He came with a muffled cry, teeth nipping at her collarbone and probably bruising the skin. Kagome lay quiet underneath him, still having yet to come. Normally she'd be angry at him, pushy for him to do something. Now she was just holding him, her lips at his temple like this meant something.

But there was Hojo, wasn't there? So it didn't.

Pulling out, Inuyasha disposed of the condom in the wastebasket, not bothering to try and hide it. The fool decided to host a party – they were definitely not the first couple in the bedroom that night, and most likely wouldn't be the last. He took a deep breath and looked at Kagome, beautiful and flushed on the bedspread, perfectly still for him. Her brown eyes stared at the ceiling and she looked like she was calculating something, determining a puzzle where the pieces didn't quite fit.

When he returned to his spot on the bed Inuyasha kissed her lips, one hand sinking back down between her thighs while the other toyed in idle circles around the nipple. "Tell me about Hojo." Kagome's gaze was sharp, mind clearly working behind the haze. Her hips moved automatically, but she was thinking more than feeling. Inuyasha needed to change that. He bent down, licking her neck before finding that spot where her pulse fluttered under her skin. The wet flesh prickled when he blew on it, and Inuyasha whispered again, voice almost too low. "You might be dating him?" His lips covered the pulse point, sucking a ruthless bruise into the pale, milky skin. He had marked her now, clearly for everyone to see. He didn't have that sort of kink, but right now he was disturbingly satisfied with it.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kagome gasped, the question coming out far more bitten than intended. "He's someone I know."

Inuyasha hummed, lifting his head just so that gold could clash with chocolate. "Sango said you were dressing up for him." Lowering his head, he sucked on her breast, fingers pumping in and out of her wet heat, his body pinning her down.

"Hardly," Kagome whispered. It was a few more seconds before she went on, panting. "He doesn't party."

"Right," he murmured, nipping at the sensitive flesh. He moved his mouth lower, tongue sweeping an invisible path down her body. "I wouldn't know."

"No. No you– you wouldn't." Kagome groaned, filthy and low. "I'm not using you on the side," she managed to get out. "Not."

The fact that she could say that out loud, so assured that _that_ was the issue – and it was but she wasn't supposed to _know_ it – frustrated him. There was something about her, something that drove him insane with the urge to throttle her about as much as the urge to fuck her. It was probably better the latter won out, for both parties.

His fingers kept up a slow, torturous pace. Kagome arched her back, hands in the sheets. She canted her hips, twisted and writhing in hopes for more, _more_. "Come on, don't tease," she hissed, hands lifting momentarily until he curled his fingers harder, jolting her.

"I'm not," he mumbled, hardly full words.

"Yes you are, you are. Come on, Inuyasha, fuck I want you inside me again–"

He didn't want her to talk. This wasn't the time for it and her words were just…words. They didn't mean anything, not like her dressing up for someone. It was irritating and Inuyasha twisted his fingers, buried them deeper until he caught her screams in his mouth, licking each sound up, _claiming_ it. Any words she wanted to say she couldn't, he wouldn't give her the chance. His thumb slid up, slick and wet as he found her clit. The first touch made her moan, her teeth nipping on his lower lip and refusing to let go as he rubbed, relentless in his goal.

"Inu–"

"No talking," he whispered, biting and sucking on her lips. If that would shut her up, if she could just _stop_ – He loved it. Inuyasha loved how her words were taken by him, a secret he couldn't know and a promise she couldn't tell. It was so much better than the words she sprouted, the words he once wanted, because _this_ , this wasn't some phone sex that he was paying for. This was Kagome beneath him, begging him for it and needing every inch of him and if only she'd never talk during sex again–

Kagome's entire body jolted, a shock running through her as her muscles clenched and unclenched in ecstasy. She screamed into mouth, hands grabbing his face and holding him to her. He kissed her through it, licking up the words she was bound to be saying but that he didn't want to hear. This was theirs, some fucked up pattern that kept repeating itself and Inuyasha couldn't care enough to think more about it, to mind.

Kagome slowly and gently let go of him, sighing and relaxing back down onto the bed. Her hands reached up to rub along his ears, too short of a touch before she let go and flopped. Her eyes were closed, a small hum of bliss reverberating up her throat. Inuyasha bent down to kiss her exposed collarbone as he pulled his fingers out, searching the room for Kleenex. Tossing some her way, he slowly got dressed, sitting on the bed and trying not to stare at her.

"Why should you care?" Kagome asked suddenly. Her eyes were open but she wasn't looking at him, instead at the door.

He knew that she should be getting dress again, yet the tone of her voice stopped him from voicing it, his gaze unwavering. "I don't give a shit about our arrangement, but I won't be that other guy."

"I said you weren't and you still didn't let up," Kagome replied. She turned her head to look at him now, curious.

"What, I should have left you hanging?" the half-demon asked, raising a brow.

"No! You're not– You were acting like–" Kagome rolled her eyes and stood up from the bed. "You were possessive. Why?"

This caught him off guard. He hadn't been expecting that even though… Yeah, that was probably the best name for it. But problems were already circling in his head – why act like that? Why was it so much better when she didn't talk? That was practically the _foundation_ of the whole damn thing. The last thing he needed was this. Kagome was still staring, waiting expectantly for an answer he simply didn't have. Why had it pissed him off so much? Was it just the idea of being the other guy or…was it more?

She took his prolonged silence for what it was and she sighed, frustrated. "This is why you make me mad. All you are is big talk and hot air, that's it. You've got nothing else, just a smart mouth."

"Should I really go into the lists and lists of reasons why you infuriate me? We'd be here all night."

"Fuck right off," Kagome snapped, picking her shirt up from the ground and putting it on. "I guess it's a good thing we know what this is then. Or do you need reminding, Mister Who-Is-Hojo?"

Inuyasha really didn't care for any of this. It was nothing more than bullshit. He could feel a headache start to pound behind his eyes and all he wanted right then was _out_. "No. I get it fine, thanks. Friends with benefits, with the added bonus of _not_ being friends."

"Fantastic," Kagome responded and Inuyasha didn't quite miss the sarcasm there. "I'll see you then, as usual."

"As usual."

When Kagome finished dressing herself up, she did no more than give a short wave before exiting out the bedroom door. He had already fixed himself, but he wasn't quite ready to step back out, to act completely nonchalant. Something had changed, _something had fucking changed._

' _You were possessive. Why?'_

Why indeed.

Fuck.

* * *

 **Responses to Anon Reviewers:**

 _Wawaii:_ Thank you so much dear! Glad you're enjoying it so far!

 _Mal:_ HAHAHAHA. I LOVE PUNS, NEVER APOLOGIZE. As I read this, I wonder where my brain was at times. So you know. Fun ride _indeed_. Thanks love!

 _ThatGirl:_ That's so sweet of you to say! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. There should be a total of 6-7 installments, which is hopefully enough time for me to finish another story… HA.

 _Snatched:_ Why, thank you so much. That really means a lot :D Another update next week, promise!

* * *

 **Feedback is love.**


	3. Part III

**Author's Note:** Fake nails were made by the devil and typing is now the most impossible of feats. Why do I do these things to myself?

* * *

 **Pennies and Dimes**

 **Part III**

* * *

 _It's all going to blow up in my face_ , she thought, somewhat weary. It was difficult to maintain the expression though when she was being fucked thoroughly, body coiling in delight, nerve endings on fire. "Oh fuck, _Inuyasha_ , god you feel good. Harder, _please_."

It wasn't like none of it was true. Inuyasha did feel good – he fucked like an absolute god – but if she had her way, would she be so vocal about it?

No, absolutely not.

Was she fluffing his ego like a pretentious pillow? Undoubtedly.

Did it have good results?

 _Fuck yes._

All of it was true and even if Kagome wasn't inclined to being so vocal, she could deal. This clearly wasn't a relationship. Even that time on the track field ended with him making some rude comment, to which she snappily retorted something equally cruel back. They weren't friends and the party only proved that. Fuck buddies, then, although that sounded so crass.

It was all going to blow up in her face, was the point of it all. They couldn't continue on like this forever. Something had to change. She had thought for one stupid moment at the party that it _had_. But she had been so, so wrong– _Oh god._

Kagome's thoughts slammed into an abrupt halt when the half-demon rubbed at her clit, toying to the point that her brain lost all higher function. She was rambling now, saying things that were desperate and needy but got them both off.

Inuyasha stopped, his hips slamming into her and just _staying_. "Kagome, you can't. Don't come yet, not until I say."

"What?" she asked and it almost bothered her that she was shaking, horny and desperate to climax. "Oh, come on Inuyasha–" she whined, continuing to speak mostly because she thought it would help her get her way. "I need you to fuck me, need you inside me, filling me up, _oh god_ come on. I need you to _move_ –"

The rest was cut off as Inuyasha crushed his mouth to hers, silencing everything but their moans. Kagome ran her hands along his body, drinking him in and trying not to keen so desperately. But Inuyasha on top of her, covering every inch of her with his body and power, beautiful and fucking astounding – she needed her own release.

She needed him, _fuck_. Why did he do this to her all the time?

"Please," she whispered, and this time it was completely unintentional.

Inuyasha's hands reached for her breasts, toying with them, flicking the nipple. He bent down and took one into his mouth, sucking like his life depended on it. Her hand came to the back of his head, holding him there, trying to press every part of her body closer to his. The half-demon groaned on top of her, the sensation of her canting hips over-stimulating but he didn't stop, merely raising his head so that he was close, so close.

"Come for me," he whispered, kissing her neck almost reverently. "Now."

Her sounds were swallowed up by his mouth, his tongue lapping up every moan and potential bit of praise. She hated that she listened, that this was all like some cue and she followed like a good girl, but fuck if she cared. Her body rolled with aftershocks, pleasure flooding every nerve of her body until she was lax on the mattress, arms still wrapped around his perfect body. Inuyasha pounded into her again; once, twice and he was coming, muscles playing and tightening on top of her.

She didn't think his sudden need for silence was weird because she was in her bed, sated, with Inuyasha about to pass out alongside her.

* * *

Something had gone horribly wrong. The party proved it.

He wasn't sure what had happened, exactly. Sex was there, sex was great and Kagome? He sure as hell was not going to complain. She was gorgeous and hot and the things that came out of her mouth fuelled his fantasies for days. She was perfect, sexually speaking anyways. He didn't know her and the half-demon didn't plan on remedying that any time soon. That would make the sex more than sex, and _no, thank you_.

Plus, Kagome knew what their arrangement was. He had stated that bluntly enough last weekend at the party. Inuyasha wasn't stupid enough to think that the things she screamed in bed had any meaning attached; it was just sex. That was it.

Right?

So why did he suddenly want her to _stop_ talking during sex? Wasn't that part of their thing?

Inuyasha tugged his sweater closer to him, hating that each passing day brought winter nearer. He was meeting Miroku and a few friends for coffee, apparently to talk something over about the December break. A weekend party? Inuyasha rolled his eyes at yet another excuse to get drunk. He'd probably just end up begging out of it anyways.

"Hey get over here, you're late _again_!" Sango yelled, glaring magenta eyes at him. "Honestly Inuyasha."

Kagome, who was sitting beside her roommate and looking particularly fantastic, rolled her eyes but smiled. It was small, private and Inuyasha had to forcibly tear his eyes away or he might do something foolish, like smile back. They weren't friends. Right.

Although, maybe this winter break thing would be worthwhile after all.

It turned out that he already missed out on a lot of the plans, because Hachi – one of Miroku's friends – got everyone's attention back. "So we're good for the 28th to the 2nd, right? Inuyasha, what about you?"

The half-demon tried not to flinch at the thought of being home for the holidays and he would gladly escape whenever he could. For a moment, he swore he felt eyes watching him intently but when he looked at Kagome, her gaze was turned away. "Yeah," he said slowly. "I'm good."

"Awesome," Hachi murmured, scratching something down on a piece of paper.

Inuyasha tuned out the rest of the conversation, instead choosing to watch. There were only a few at the table – Hachi and Miroku, Sango, Kagome, himself and Sango's other quiet friend Kirara, who he'd met once but never talked to. There were more people coming though and from what he heard Kagome's other roommate was coming along with a few of Miroku's friends. The half-demon was leery of that last part because Inuyasha liked to remind Miroku he was his best friend for a _good reason_.

Inuyasha tried very hard to avoid looking at Kagome but in his defence she was making it kind of hard. She was doing things with her hair and then smiling and– Inuyasha need to get a grip on himself.

Mentally _and_ physically.

Maybe Kagome would like to help with that. Or would that be ruining the point?

Finally, _finally_ , whatever they were planning was finished. Emails would apparently be sent out, blah blah. This whole thing seemed to be a big waste, but Miroku grinned and clapped Inuyasha on the back suddenly, always the man with the plan.

"Bar?" Winking those baby blues at the girls, Inuyasha was slightly horrified to see that while Kagome – _thankfully_ – and Kirara didn't react, Sango _giggled._

 _Really_?

"I'm up for it," Kirara said, nudging Sango with a sly look. Was something there that he wasn't seeing? Inuyasha frowned. Sango was blushing. Didn't that only happen in bad romantic comedies? Miroku possibly had a chance after all.

"Hachi?" Miroku asked, grinning wider when he got a nod. "Come on man," he then whined, tugging on the silver-haired man's shoulder. "Come out with us."

He was going to say yes because this night had to end on a note other than the one it was currently on. It didn't explain how his golden eyes dragged themselves to see Kagome, who was half-smiling with raised brows.

Well, if that wasn't a booty call, Inuyasha didn't know what was. Tonight just got infinitely better.

"Nah, I still have stuff to do," Inuyasha replied, trying to look disappointed.

"Bullshit," Miroku stated, shaking his head but clearly dropping it. He wiggled his eyebrows at Kagome. "And what about you, beautiful?"

"Spare me," Kagome laughed, standing up and looping an arm through her purse. "I'd love to but I've got a paper that'll never end. I'll see you Monday though."

Inuyasha was desperately trying not to smirk, to give away anything that might suggest he and Kagome might converse. Actually, they didn't talk all that much in the end. No one seemed to notice anything, not with Sango staring at Miroku while he said something probably dumb. Hachi rolled his eyes but Kirara was giving Kagome a strange look. It was the quiet ones you always had to look out for.

Kagome left the coffee shop quickly, waving goodbye and swaying those deadly hips that left him entranced. Inuyasha had to wait, fidgeting and hoping he wasn't being obvious. But this…why was he acting like this? It wasn't anything new. Frankly, it was nothing to be so excited over. What was he acting all stupid for?

Miroku, Sango, Hachi and Kirara finally got moving, laughing and fighting over where they were going and who was going to be paying for the cab ride home. Inuyasha wished them luck, pointedly not looking around for Kagome. He had to stop this, whatever _this_ was.

Something tugged on his sleeve and Inuyasha willingly let himself be dragged out of sight. Kagome was on him in a second, wrapping her arms around his neck and licking her way into his mouth.

Inuyasha certainly wasn't going to stop _this_.

"Took long enough," Kagome murmured against his lips. "Mine is fifteen minutes away."

"Ten."

Kagome hummed, tugging on his sweater and toying with the zipper. None of it should have been a turn on. It definitely was. "You win."

Inuyasha for the life of him couldn't answer how they got back to his place. He was pretty sure it took a lot longer than ten minutes, what with them stopping every couple of moments to press the other up against the wall and drive each other crazy. Even more confusing was how they ended up on the floor of his apartment, but he sure as hell wasn't complaining about that.

"Let me," she murmured, reaching down into his already unbuttoned pants and fisting his cock. She stroked slowly, leisurely, giving him a small half-smile through the whole thing that Inuyasha wanted to kiss her senseless for.

Something was going on here but Inuyasha refused to think about it, instead focusing on the pleasure, on the way her hands pumped him at a teasing pace, too slow to build but enough that precome slicked her way up and down. Stifling a groan, Inuyasha bent forward until Kagome was completely lying down, her eyes half-lidded and full of lust. "You're lucky I only have one roommate and that he's currently out trying to get into your roommate's pants."

Humming low in her throat, Kagome let go of his dick and wrapped her legs up around his waist. She was practically hanging off of him, her hips dancing torturous circles on his hard erection as she grinned. "Guess I'm lucky," she whispered, breathy. "What are you going to do to me? You going to–"

"Shh," Inuyasha interrupted, pressing his hand gently over her mouth and smirking. "Shut up for once and I might let you come first."

Instead of answering she licked his hand, just a flick of the tongue. He retracted slightly, about to rub the saliva off on her cheek when she turned her head and licked at his finger, daring him. Inuyasha had no choice but to try and stop himself from swearing, thinking along the lines of _Jesus Christ_ and _she's going to kill me_. Her lips were now closed, red and swollen from the bruising kisses on the way to his apartment. He paid little attention, dragging the pad of his thumb along the soft flesh before pushing inside, getting past teeth. Her tongue encircled the digit, lips closing in tight before she groaned and sucked, taking his thumb in like she would his cock.

Inuyasha was not in the mood for anymore foreplay. In seconds he stripped them both completely bare, clothes thrown and discarded to places he couldn't care less about. Her legs were spread and ready, her naked breasts rising up and down with anticipation, but he couldn't give it up that easy, not yet. Smirking, Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her body and then rolled them, flipping them both until he was lying on the carpet with her straddling him. "Check under the couch," he murmured, letting his claws rake across her body. "And don't take too long."

"What?" Kagome's lust-blown eyes stared down at him, confused before she looked towards the nearby couch.

"Condom should be under a cushion," Inuyasha answered, letting her go and watching as her ass swayed to and fro. It was getting absurd, how often he looked at it. When Kagome gave him another incredulous stare, her hand searching under the cushion, Inuyasha had just shrugged. "I live with Miroku." There really wasn't anything else he had to say.

Kagome rolled her eyes but came back successful, tearing open the package and rolling it on. This had to move faster or Inuyasha wasn't going to care whether or not she had an orgasm. He was thankful for her momentary inability to talk while she sank down on top of him, wet delicious heat sheathing him tightly. If the half-demon had been able to say anything, it would probably be along the lines of _marry me_ or _ride my cock forever_ , both of which weren't normal given the circumstances.

He let her adjust, let her legs spread wider and watched as her eyes closed in bliss of feeling full, taken. Her hips danced up and down experimentally and before she could say something just to talk them both off, Inuyasha spoke, his hands pulling her so that she was braced just above him, nearly parallel with him. "I want to you to ride my cock, just like this. Get yourself off."

There was something like amusement in her eyes, but Kagome said nothing as she slowly moved up and down his shaft, so close to the edge before sinking down completely on his lap. Inuyasha moved his hands towards her butt, that dangerous thing that kept distracting him when it shouldn't be, and Kagome groaned at the feel. The angle of their bodies had her clit rubbing against him while she fucked herself on his dick, her moans getting breathier as she sped up. Inuyasha grabbed her hips, digging his feet into the floor before he thrust into her, repeatedly and brutally, over and over until Kagome screamed, collapsing down and burying her head into his neck.

Those few seconds were torture, because while Kagome was relaxing in the afterglow, he wanted nothing more than to bury himself deep into that heat, to roll over and pound her into the floor until he came. It felt like years – _an eternity_ – before she started moving again, her lips brushing against his jaw line, his cheek, as she met him thrust for thrust. It took far too little time to push him over the edge, his orgasm sneaking up on him until he cried out, his hands forcing her hips down tight against him.

Kagome stayed perfectly still, let him move her and shift her as they both slowly came down, breathing uneven and heavy in the quiet apartment. Eventually she looked up, pushing onto her hands until she was able to look around. "Nice place," she commented, her raised brow the only indication that she was trying to break the silence that suffocated them.

"Thanks. Anything dirty is completely Miroku's fault," Inuyasha stated matter-of-factly. His left hand went to her shoulder, tracing down the length of her arm until she was looking at him again. "You good?"

Nodding, Kagome levered her body up, slowly so that he could gently pull out of her. She got up and found some tissue while he disposed of the condom in the bathroom. There was hardly any point to putting on clothes, not with it being past midnight and his plan to do nothing more than sleep. Kagome stood in the middle of his living room though, the big open space that showed nearly everything the apartment had to offer. She wasn't dressed, but she was staring at her clothes like they may have offended her.

"Kagome," Inuyasha murmured, getting the raven-haired girl's attention. He could tell what was on her mind, although how he could do that was a bit of a mystery. She was tired, clearly, with bags under her eyes. She looked thoroughly sex-rumpled but also a bit worn out from exhaustion due to the day. It was probably – definitely – why the next words left his mouth. "Just stay over. It's late, I don't have enough cash on hand to get you a cab and I'm not letting you walk home alone."

"I can take care of myself," Kagome argued, although it was more out of habit than anything else. She came towards him, clearly indifferent to the fact that she was still completely naked and sauntering around his apartment like she owned it. Inuyasha turned and led her to his bedroom, a bit thankful that it wasn't a _total_ disaster like it had been a couple days ago before he cleaned up. "Bathroom?"

Inuyasha pointed over his shoulder while still heading towards the mattress. "It's across the hall. Any mess in there is _definitely_ Miroku's. He's worse than a woman."

"Noted," Kagome answered, shaking her head as she disappeared.

It gave Inuyasha a few moments to think, and then consequently shrug. Who the hell cared if Kagome spent the night? They had _sex_ frequently, so sleeping on the same mattress was hardly a big deal. The sheets were clean enough, so Inuyasha slipped inside and buried under the covers. Kagome would have to turn off the lights, and since he couldn't be bothered, she could struggle to get underneath the covers he had already tucked around himself. He was happily warm, thanks.

When the brown-eyed woman came back in, she laughed at his appearance and flicked off the light without being told. Kagome shut the door and slowly made her way across the dark room, her hands landing on his covered body when she reached the bed. "Scoot over," she murmured, poking his face next. "I have to get in."

"This is my side," Inuyasha said in reply, unmoving. "You'll have to crawl in."

"Are you– Oh my god," Kagome muttered, cutting herself off. She moved over his body, making sure to knee him without care before sighing exasperatedly at the covers. " _Really_?"

"Do you complain this much all the time?" Inuyasha asked, irritated that he was still awake. "Go to bed."

"I'm _trying_ ," Kagome mumbled, taking forever to get situated. When she finally was comfortable, the silence took over.

Inuyasha sighed and relaxed, happy in his knowledge that tomorrow was Saturday and he didn't have any classes whatsoever to think about. He'd wake up to Kagome probably drooling into his pillow, and that was that.

…So why was he all of a sudden wide awake? The realization hit him pretty hard, and Inuyasha was annoyed since only a moment ago he'd been blissfully happy to have what was left of the afterglow lull him into slumber. Now it seemed to elude him, thoughts of Kagome in his bed far more prominent than they should be.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome whispered. She sounded close – really close, even though the bed was a double and there _was_ some breathing room between them. "You're awake, right?"

 _Don't answer. It's a trap_. "Yeah," he mumbled. "What?" For a moment, there was nothing more than Kagome squirming again to shift on the mattress. Inuyasha wasn't facing her, so with a tired sigh he rolled onto his back, the right side of his body knocking into hers. She _was_ close then. "Are you okay?"

Kagome hummed quietly and then nodded, the sound of the fabric moving across her skin the only noise. "I don't really sleep well in strange places, but it's easier with other people there."

"Then there shouldn't really be a problem," Inuyasha started, a bit confused.

"I also sprawl, _a lot_." She sounded completely unapologetic, that bitch.

"Someone as high-maintenance as you, I'd imagine."

"I don't snore though."

"Thank god for small mercies."

Kagome snorted and then, "You know, I am sorry."

Closing his eyes, the half-demon wondered if he could possibly feign sleep suddenly. He rather doubted it. "For what?"

"The party," Kagome said, her voice hardly more than a whisper, as if any loud noise would break the moment. "I shouldn't have said those things. I hardly know you, so I shouldn't be saying much of anything."

As far as conversations went, it was the last thing Inuyasha expected to come from her mouth. He almost expected the topic to be taboo, an unspoken mess that sat between them that would either fester and explode, or simmer and die. The fact that she was apologizing made it all the more complicated, because it did things to Inuyasha's head that he didn't want to think about. He'd tried to understand the questions she asked, the answers he couldn't seem to give. Everything that came to mind just seemed _wrong_ , because no, he hadn't just been mad because he could've been her thing on the side. It was the…the thought of someone else, amongst other unknown things.

Recoiling instantly, Inuyasha realized he hadn't yet answered her. "Me too," he whispered, because he was, no matter what was going on in his brain. "I didn't mean to be so…you know." _Please don't make me say it_.

"Yeah, I know." Kagome sighed and her hand wound through the sheets until she landed on his bare hip. "So do you work during school or…?" She let it trail off before suddenly she whipped her head around. "You don't have to answer though, I mean, if you don't want. I'm just–"

"I know," Inuyasha interrupted. A part of him knew this wasn't just going to end so he turned around, lying on his side to face her. "No, I don't work. I have money set aside for school. Do you work because you have to or…?" Now it was his turn to wince, because the question was horribly personal and nosey, and that just wasn't their arrangement. "You don't–"

"I _know_." It seemed like they were stuck in a time loop, although Kagome sounded bemused more than anything else. "It's okay. My family isn't in a bad situation but we're not well-off. My tuition was saved for since I was a child, but the extra spending money is tight and food is expensive. My mom does what she can on a single income and a family to feed at home, but I don't want to add stress to her life, you know? I'm a big girl. I can pull my own."

"That's good," Inuyasha murmured, mostly because he didn't know what else to say. "How did you even get into working on a hotline?"

"Kikyo, actually," Kagome answered, laughing a bit. "She made a joke about it once when we were drunk, so we decided to apply myself that night. Sent my resume in and left a message of me talking and giving basic information. When I woke up, I was hungover and horrified. Then I got the job, and I talked to the woman who worked there and we discussed all of the benefits and I just– It was easy. I have a lot of flexibility and I don't have to go anywhere or pay for bus passes or gas. Hell, I can do homework."

"Wasn't it…weird?" Inuyasha cringed. He sounded like some sad, confused teenager with his virginity happily intact and with no useful knowledge of how to manoeuvre around the female anatomy.

"Not… A bit?" Kagome laughed again, quietly. "It wasn't what I expected. There's a lot more than just talking guys off and moaning. They like to _talk_ and _discuss_. I have to keep up on politics and weather and major news events and fads and so much more. I have to be this image, this woman that they can tolerate and enjoy enough for them to get off. There are businessmen who are in another country for some presentation and have time on their hands. There are men looking for a pick-me-up in the morning, or an easy way to pass out at night. They aren't sick or gross for calling a sex line; they're calling because it's a viable option without a real face, without a real impact being made on anyone."

"Are some of them married?"

Kagome shrugged, making an unhappy little noise in the back of her throat. "Possibly, but I wouldn't know. Typically that's not discussed. It tends to destroy the mood."

Nodding his head, Inuyasha closed his eyes. "What do you really want to be doing? If you could have your dream job, what would it be?"

"Teaching," Kagome whispered, her own voice dropping even lower, a yawn breaking through at the end. "I want to get my PhD and then teach at the university level."

"That's a lot of school," Inuyasha mumbled. "I hate school."

"Engineering isn't exactly an easy program."

"It's death." Inuyasha grumbled a little, not wanting to think about the math assignments and projects that were still unfinished, the due date coming up faster and faster with each passing second. "But I enjoy the application. I can't write essays for shit."

"I love essays."

"Jump off a cliff."

"No, thank you, but I appreciate the offer."

Inuyasha sighed and buried deeper into the pillow. He never slept on his side so he rolled onto his stomach, head cradled in his arms. The late hour was getting to him now – or was it the early hour? Regardless, the two of them drifted off into sleep, unperturbed by anything else that may come their way because nothing – _nothing_ – would change this.

In the morning they would rest, legs tangled together and arms encircled tightly. Miroku would wolf whistle and Inuyasha would shoot out of bed, waking up Kagome as realization dawned on him. He would tug on shorts and run into the hall, only to see Miroku eyeing the bra in the living room with a smug smile. Inuyasha would feel a massive terror at being caught and ruining what was possibly one of the best things going for him at the moment. His best friend wouldn't see the shirt though, which would've been a dead giveaway, so Inuyasha would be able to pick up everything, yell at him and then hide back in his room. Kagome would blow him against his closed bedroom door, his own mouth reciprocating before they got dressed.

And Kagome wouldn't say goodbye when Inuyasha went out to distract Miroku while she vanished through the front door.

* * *

Kagome had a feeling that tonight was not going to go all that well. It was just fleeting but the worry was real. Sango's group meeting had to happen at the house because someone screwed up again and didn't book a room at the library. Apparently, their house was the next closest thing and Sango _had_ told her in advance. So really, nothing should be wrong.

"Ooh yeah baby, I missed you, _missed this_." She groaned in fake pleasure.

She was working tonight and even though Sango assured her that they would be in the living room – far enough away that even a demon couldn't hear – and she would be playing some music, Kagome wasn't convinced. Her life was never that smooth.

Kagome was trying – and failing – to start a paper due within the next week, but she worried too much to focus on it. Thankfully she'd been doing this job for a while, the responses mostly automatic. The clock ticked on, Sango's meeting having already started.

If Yura the Phone Sex Operator wanted to role play and pretend they were in a library, well, it was purely coincidental.

Sango had started screaming at one point, loud enough that Kagome could hear it without making out the words. Knowing her roommate, she had found some sort of grammatical error or a numerical no-no in their work. The whole roommate experience was pretty eye opening, especially Sango's more anal-retentive qualities. The cleanliness of a toothpaste cap being one of them, even if the toothpaste wasn't _hers_.

Another guy, another experience, but even Kagome had to wince at this one. She talked to all kinds of men – doctors, accountants, secretaries, teachers and more – all for different reasons. They all wanted something different, were calling to get that one-on-one experience without faces and direct transactions. They were normal individuals…and then there were the actual perverts, the ones that asked for far too many specifics, rehearsed phrases. Kagome mostly repeated the same things, over and over until the guy got off and Yura did too. The only silver lining to that call was that it had lasted so long her pay would be fantastic.

Bankotsu called again, her one favourite because he was so simple to please. They talked about their days – Yura's false ones anyways – and even debated politics before they got started, Kagome's smooth and low-pitched voice huskily whispering out Yura's dirty fantasies – like being fucked in a library.

By the time the call was over, her shift had technically already ended. Kagome didn't dare to leave her room though, berating herself for the mostly bare page of her notebook. This paper was going to be a difficult one then. At least things were quiet now, only the barest hint of music coming from the main level. Sango hadn't mentioned when the meeting would be over or how long it was probably going to take. Kagome resigned herself to a boring night of homework and got to it.

That lasted for only another hour.

Kagome hadn't noticed as she left the upstairs bathroom that there was no longer music playing. It was really late but Sango definitely hadn't come up for bed yet so she was likely winding down and watching television. Kagome had half a mind to join her, until she re-entered her bedroom.

"Jesus–" Kagome's yell was muffled by a hand and a pleased smirk on full lips. Golden eyes were laughing at her.

"Sango didn't lock the front door. Don't worry, she doesn't know I'm here," Inuyasha explained, still inexplicably pleased. The hand fell from her mouth.

Still, Kagome didn't even know what to say. A part of her was horrified he'd just sneak in like that – _and so well_ – but the other part of her kind of liked the way he was looking at her. "I should hit you," she said instead, trying to be discouraging.

It clearly wasn't working, if Inuyasha's ever-growing smirk said anything. "I thought you wanted to do it in your bed." His eyes were burning something fierce, even with the smile.

"To clarify, I said _a_ bed and that goal has long been accomplished."

"So I should go?" Inuyasha's dog ears – damn them – flattened like he was _sad_. That was just ridiculous and insane and–

"Don't be purposely dumb." Kagome started to strip but Inuyasha quickly took it over, discarding her top and bra and jeans. He kissed her, lips demanding with a bit too much teeth but she sunk into it, let him push her towards the bed. "People are here, so you're going to have to be quiet. Kikyo usually comes back from her teaching session in the next ten minutes."

" _I'm_ going to have to be quiet?" Inuyasha gave a small huff of laughter, pushing at her shoulder so that she fell back on the bed, her hair fluttering around her.

Kagome no longer squirmed at the thought of being so exposed, and that alone made her wonder when exactly this was _normal_. Routine. Safe. She let him remove her underwear, feeling the fabric dance along her legs. His claws bit into her skin the entire way, his golden eyes roaming across her body like he'd never seen it before. And then their eyes met.

"I heard you," Inuyasha whispered, slowly crawling on top of her body. "You were working, weren't you?"

"You heard me downstairs?" Kagome struggled to get up because _no_ , this was not good. Sango had _promised_. "How–"

"Shut up, _Jesus_ ," Inuyasha muttered, leaning in close. "No one else heard."

She tried to think about that and suddenly it all made sense. "Sango was yelling at _you_ earlier," she hissed. "You came upstairs, didn't you?"

Inuyasha answered with a searing kiss, pushing her further into the mattress. Kagome wrapped her arms around him, torn between yelling at him for being so obtrusive or keeping him closer to not _stop_. None of this was probably healthy, it couldn't be.

She didn't stop him though. She spread her legs, let him settle between her. After what felt like hours of torture and pleasure and teasing he was inside of her, filling her up and eradicating anything that floated through her mind. She moaned lowly, grabbing at his arms and feeling the muscles bunch and coil beneath her fingers. "Fuck, Inuyasha don't stop, don't stop, _oh god_."

The half-demon stopped. Golden eyes stared at her, a little confused and possibly unhappy.

Kagome had no idea what had just happened so she dropped her hands to the mattress, looking back at him. "Is something the matter?"

"No, you just–" Inuyasha cut himself off, smirking suddenly before leaning back and dragging her hips along with him. Her back was naturally arching as he lifted her, surprise written across her features. What was he– _oh fuck, Christ–_

Her head nearly hit the wall, the pillow the only thing stopping her. Everything was a blur of pleasure, her body responding to every single move he made. His hands guided her along his cock, and every time she opened her mouth to speak he'd slam into her, rocking the bed and making her bite her lip to stop from making embarrassingly loud noises. It didn't take long, not with the way he manhandled her and drove her wild. She came with a wordless cry, body arching and tensing around him, pulling him impossibly closer. Inuyasha groaned, his body flushed and tensed. She could tell he was close, could feel the way he was so near to the edge but stopping himself from falling over.

"Come on," she whispered, her voice wrecked and whiskey rough. "Come on Inuyasha, just fuck me–" Whatever else she was going to say was abruptly cut off, Inuyasha's lips demanding on hers. His tongue claimed every inch, the rest of his body now fully on top of her, covering her. There was no space between them, no room. His one arm bracketed her head while the other was scratching down her side, his hips thrusting with shallow jerks that made her want to beg for more.

And this, _this_ – What was this? Kagome had never felt so controlled, so _claimed_ and Inuyasha was touching every inch of her body. There was nothing in the middle, nothing to draw the line and say _this is your side, this is mine_. She moaned into his mouth, thoughts running wild at how good it all felt, how Inuyasha taking her over was better than anything else she'd ever experienced.

… _Whoa._

Inuyasha came in the midst of her epiphany-like moment, his head burying itself in her neck to muffle the sounds he was making.

But holy crap. Holy crap.

Inuyasha sighed and lifted himself up, shuffling over just enough to flop beside her. He removed the condom and tied it off, lying back down with a pitiful groan. "Kleenex?"

Kagome handed it over wordlessly, trying desperately to remove everything from her mind. This was not the time to think. No, she would freak the fuck out in the privacy of her bedroom when one extremely hot, silver-haired half-demon was not occupying it with her. She took the balled up evidence of their affair and threw it in the garbage by her desk. Half-expecting Inuyasha to be moving and partially dressed, she was surprised when the half-demon very much wasn't.

"Inuyasha?" she asked, sliding back into bed and drawing up the sheet. It was too hot for everything else, even clothes, but some decency was in order.

"I don't want to move," Inuyasha grumbled, clearly tired. He rolled over, so that his face was half covered by a pillow, his one arm flinging out across her chest. "Fuck the weather. Do you know how cold it is outside?"

"It's not even winter yet," Kagome answered, absently running her fingers along his forearm.

"Tell that to my balls while they freeze off," the half-demon sighed.

"Eloquent." Kagome's hand stopped for a moment, hesitating in the air when she realized she was stroking him a like a damn cat.

Inuyasha stiffened immediately, silver ears twitching in her direction. "Uh, I can– I'll go, just give me a minute–"

"Stay." Kagome sighed, relaxing even more as she continued to brush against his forearm. Slowly she felt him sink back down, deflating. "There's no point. Like you said, it's cold."

Inuyasha nodded lazily beside her. Turning his head, his golden eyes caught her gaze. "I'm going to have to get up early to change back at home. Do you have an alarm or something?" Inuyasha yawned. "I think a bus will be here around 9 and I've got class at 11."

"Don't bother, I've still got your shirt, remember?" Kagome winced, going back to the first time they had together, that blur of a day that made no sense and _yet_ …

Instead of the usual, sarcastically bitten remarks she'd come to expect, Inuyasha actually _laughed_. "You mean you didn't burn it and use it to invoke evil magic against me?"

"The spell required a shirt _and_ a pair of boxers," she murmured, trying to be serious and utterly failing. "I was lacking."

Inuyasha raised himself on his elbows, eyes darting to the pile of his clothes on the floor. He smirked, the bastard. "What about now?"

Petting his hair, she cooed. "Just go to sleep, sweetie. It'll all be better in the morning."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Fuck you."

Kagome opened her mouth to speak again but found that she couldn't. The half-demon's lips pressed against hers, opening and inviting her in. There was nothing desperate or needy about it, nothing pressuring it to go further. The kiss was lazy, simple, sweet, _domestic_.

Suddenly Inuyasha was gone, blinking down at her in something akin to disbelief. "Uh."

"You–"

They both stopped, waited. This kiss had been _domestic_ , something two lovers would share in a quiet moment. They weren't _lovers_ , they were sex buddies. Not-friends with benefits. Etcetera.

"We should have sex," Inuyasha stated. She didn't miss the cringe as he looked at the time.

"Or we just…consider that a down-payment for morning sex tomorrow?"

Inuyasha nodded. "Good idea." The silver-haired man got up and turned off the lights, crawling back under the covers. They distinctly didn't touch.

When Kagome woke up in the middle of the night with her bladder screaming bloody murder, she determined that escape was nearly futile. Apparently, silver-haired half-demons liked to sleep on _top_ of their victims while unconscious.

The bastard was a cuddler and Kagome told her blurry mind that _no_ , _it wasn't endearing_.

* * *

Inuyasha woke up at 10:35, pleased and warm and comfortable. This was nice. A soft bed, a pliant body, sleeping in… He could get used–

"Fuck, Kagome!" Inuyasha hissed, rolling off of her and leaping out of bed. His class was at eleven. He was going to have to _run_ there, stretch out those demon muscles in the fucking cold.

"Mmm," Kagome groaned unhappily, displeased at being woken up. "Come back to bed," she mumbled, sleep-rumpled voice vibrating with disuse. "Inuyasha…"

The half-demon stared at her and actually moaned, because _fuck_ life wasn't fair. Sango would kill him though. _Slaughter_ _him_. "Where's that shirt?" It took a few moments but she still hadn't answered. "Kagome!"

"Fine!" she bit out, whining. Inuyasha watched her as he redressed, seeing the way she practically _rolled_ out of bed. She grabbed a pair of panties and some sort of cotton shorts. He could tell she was struggling for something though, searching for god-only-knew what in her drawer before she cursed and turned around. Without waiting Kagome grabbed the shirt he'd worn yesterday. She put it on, braless.

Inuyasha fucking _hated_ Sango right now. _Loathed_ her even. Life was not fair.

Still bleary eyed, the raven-haired woman dragged herself to her closet, nearly diving inside. The white, now stainless t-shirt flew across the room and into his hands. He put it on, tugged on his shoes and grabbed his backpack. He had to _go_.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kagome asked, worried.

His hand was on the doorknob, already turned and really what could be so important now? "I'm leaving."

"Other people live here you know," Kagome shot back, stepping in front of him. "Listen first, is anyone up?"

Inuyasha paused. "Downstairs, I think."

Nodding, Kagome led the way out. They crept down the stairs, Inuyasha hating every painfully slow step. "Where?" the black-haired girl asked.

"Kitchen, I think? Living room?" He didn't know the layout all that well and now was certainly not the time to learn. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Kagome answered softly. There was a moment where she stepped closer and he started to lean down because kissing her was only logi– _Wait_. No. "Enjoy class."

"With Sango, yeah fucking right," he muttered. "Try not to burn my shirt."

"Kagome, are you up?" Kikyo yelled from the kitchen. "Coffee? I just made a pot."

Smirking, Inuyasha opened the door and disappeared, running down the street. It was cold. Very fucking goddamn cold. Maybe he should get his jacket out.

It wasn't until he was sitting in class, the lecture having just started that the half-demon realized something: the down-payment didn't get any use. There had been no sex. No sex, just morning mumbles and wishes to kill certain best friends-slash-group members.

Oh god. They didn't have sex and it was turning domestic.

And he _liked_ it.

Shit. _Shit_.

This changed everything.

* * *

 **Responses to Anon Reviewers:**

 _ThatGirl:_ Jealous!Inuyasha is by far my favourite. And better late than never is probably my life motto hahahaha. Thanks love!

 _Lazy Login Nic:_ Firstly, love the name. Secondly, thank you for taking a chance dear, I super appreciate it. You're wonderful.

 _Mal:_ Right? Right?! RIGHT!

 _Guest:_ Well studying is important but to tell you to ignore reading a story over studying would be probably one of the most hypocritical things I could do. So. Hope you enjoyed :D

 _The Well:_ Love, every one of your comments made me smile and/or laugh. You kill me. Here's your update. Enjoy it dear.

 _Guest:_ WOO! OKAY I DID.

 _Momoney:_ I think that's pretty much how everyone describes my Inuyasha: him, but not him haha. Thank you so much dear! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!

 _AAAAAA:_ Your wish is my command *bows* *falls over* *dies*

* * *

 **Feedback is love.**


	4. Part IV

**Author's Note:** You're all simply the best and I adore you.

I'm taking prompts and suggestions for the 12 Days of Witchyness now, so get them in! For those of you that have no idea what that means, basically in December I post a different story every day for the 12 days that lead up to Christmas. But I'm slow as hell so I need the prompts, like, yesterday.

Prompt away via review OR on my website there's a post dedicated to it, just add dots and slashes where applicable: witchygirl99 (add a dot here) wordpress (add a dot here) com (add a forward slash) 2017/09/09/12-days-of-witchyness/

* * *

 **Pennies and Dimes**

 **Part IV**

* * *

"Why the hell are you staring out the door?"

Kagome blinked and turned around, hand still on the door handle, even though it had been already closed. "What?"

For the longest second, Kikyo just stared. Her familiar brown eyes looked her up and down, landing on the clearly masculine shirt. "You slut."

"Hey!" Kagome protested, pouting while Kikyo laughed, prancing back into the kitchen. "You shouldn't say that to me, of all people!"

"You totally had a guy over!" Kikyo was swelling up with pride, even as she poured two steaming cups of coffee. Clearly, this wasn't her first. "So you have to tell me, who is it?"

"Kikyo!"

"You can't hold out on me!" the black-haired girl complained. She ran a hand through her pin-straight locks, twirling a strand idly at the end. "Is he hot? Was it Hojo?"

Kagome blinked, because _what_? How had she guessed that?

"It _was!_ " Kikyo yelled, grinning. "Aw, all grown up!"

"It's not Hojo," Kagome exclaimed. She took a sip of the coffee, trying to avoid speaking, if only for a moment. "Trust me, it's not him. It won't ever be."

"Then–"

"I'm going back to bed, _bye_ ," she interrupted, bringing the coffee mug up with her. "Don't give yourself an aneurysm thinking about it."

Kikyo laughed, loud and naughty, like she was _only_ going to be thinking about Kagome's sex life all day. "I'm watching you."

Kagome didn't doubt it. The only problem was that this morning had missed something. Routine had been broken because that kiss from last night? It had gone nowhere. The down-payment crap was all a lie to stop the panic in his eyes. And possibly the fluttering in her chest.

Inuyasha hadn't meant to kiss her like that, clearly. It had been an accident, a side effect of doing something so normally intimate. It hadn't meant anything – not to him, anyways.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, she hopped back into bed and set an alarm for noon. Class wasn't until one anyways. At least she wouldn't cross paths with Inuyasha for the rest of the day.

Telling herself to go to sleep was a hell of a lot easier than telling herself that nothing – _absolutely nothing_ – had changed.

* * *

Inuyasha wouldn't go so far to say that he was twitchy but…he _was_.

"Inuyasha?"

Distracted, too. It was becoming a problem and he was fast learning why. He wasn't just attracted to Kagome–

"Inuyasha?"

He liked her. For some inexplicable reason, he liked her and wanted her for more than just their usual sexual activities. He was so fucked.

"Inuyasha, holy shit bud!" Miroku yelled, finally punching the half-demon in the shoulder. "What is your deal?"

Golden eyes swivelled to his friend and then back to the blank wall of the library. His class had been cancelled so he managed to find Miroku in the library, hitting on the elderly librarian like it was a mission in life. He was pretty sure the woman knew what he was like, because she always just looked bemused by the whole thing.

Miroku groaned, propping his chin in his hands to stare at Inuyasha. "It's this chick you're banging, isn't it?"

He didn't even want to respond to that, but his mouth was moving of its own volition. "I'm not just– Fine. _Yes_."

"Clinger?" Miroku asked, looking sympathetic. "What class are we talking about on a scale of one through five?"

Inuyasha frowned. "What?"

"A Class One Clinger is a girl who whines because you're gone but doesn't really do much to keep you there. That goes up to a Class Five Clinger, who basically stalks you." Miroku's blue eyes were imploring, which was crazy. "So…?"

Snorting, Inuyasha wondered how he got a friend like this. "She's not a clinger of any class. It's not like that."

The black-haired man looked thoughtful for a second, then he eyed Inuyasha warily. "Don't tell me you have _feelings_ ," he hissed, "for your fuck buddy! That's breaking the rules!"

"She's more than _that_ ," Inuyasha insisted. He kept quiet on the fact he only came to that same conclusion not too long ago. The worry was that Kagome knew – _knew_ before him even – because they hadn't seen each other for almost a week. They crossed paths and there were secret looks but…nothing else. He couldn't let this end though, couldn't walk away just yet.

"And I thought I was hopeless," Miroku muttered. "So what happened to make you come to this conclusion?"

"I'm not talking to you about this."

"Should I tell Sango and get her to ask?" His friend raised a brow.

"As if you won't tell her anyways," Inuyasha shot back. He pulled out his cell phone and checked the time; Kagome should be getting out of class in a few minutes. Well, there was no time like the present. "Look, I've got to go. Meeting tomorrow night, right?"

"I even booked the study room this time."

"Oh goodie, more for Sango to giggle about over you."

Miroku looked startled. "What? Why would she giggle over me?"

" _Goodbye_ ," Inuyasha called, giving a half-assed wave before disappearing. The halls were mostly empty, so getting to Kagome's class wasn't hard. She'd mentioned how all of her classes were in the same dreary room. Now the doors were opening, students filing out and chatting loudly. It took no time at all for him to spot Kagome, laughing and talking to some guy as she shoved something in her bag. The moment her brown gaze fell on him, her eyes widened. The guy beside her noticed, his attention turning to Inuyasha as well. Kagome was saying something to him, something that clearly confused him as Inuyasha sauntered over.

"Hey," he said, "do you have a minute?"

Kagome nodded, turned to the sandy-haired guy beside her. "I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"But I thought we were studying for exams?" the guy asked, still lost. "You said–"

"I know, I know," Kagome cut in, apologetic. "But I forgot I was supposed to meet him earlier and now he's probably here to ask where the hell I was, which is exactly what I'd ask if I were him."

Inuyasha blinked and frowned at her. Clearly she was trying to send him a not-so-subtle message. "Seriously?"

"Well, why else are you here?" Kagome asked, daring him. Rolling his eyes, he did little more than shrug. He really needed to start coming up with a plan before he searched her out.

"I guess I'll see you then," the sandy-haired guy said, still looking at Kagome funny. Now the expression looked a little more worried.

When he walked away, Kagome hit his arm. "You're giving me a booty call now?"

"It wasn't that long ago you did the exact same thing. It's not my fault you have lonely friends that can't study without you."

"Hojo is hardly lonely," Kagome snapped. "Don't be mean."

But it was only the first word that processed. "That's Hojo?"

Kagome sighed and grabbed Inuyasha's wrist, dragging him away. "This is exactly why I didn't want you two to meet."

The half-demon scoffed. "What did you think I was going to do?"

"If the party was anything to go by, you'd try and get me to blow you right then and there," she muttered dryly.

Smirking, Inuyasha twisted their hands around so that he was dragging her by the wrist instead. "I'd settle for a blowjob in my bedroom."

"Oh my god," the brown-eyed girl complained. "That's like twenty minutes away from here. You want to go all that way for just a booty call. How desperate are you?"

The moment they were outside, Inuyasha gave his best manic smirk before hauling her up on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck. "Not if we run."

And if Kagome's horrified shouts and shocked laughter were the best part of that entire day – blowjob excluded – no one had to know.

* * *

"I look like a mess," Kagome stated, whining when her fingers got caught on the wind-blown knots in her hair.

The rest of the day had been a mixture of sex, video games, cold pizza and more sex. Miroku hadn't even returned to the apartment like he normally did, so the two of them were free to roam around the place (which was code for sex in more than one room).

"You look fine," Inuyasha stated, toying with the zipper of his jacket. "What are you up to tomorrow?"

"Work and studying," Kagome answered, making a displeased face. "And more studying."

"Nerd," the silver-haired guy said, grinning. "You should text me if you need a break."

Text him? They hadn't really done that. Booty calls were always in person and most often random. This was almost pre-meditated. "Just for…you know?"

Typically, Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "We _can_ just hang out. People tend to do that."

" _Friends_ tend to do that," she pointed out.

The half-demon just shrugged.

"Okay," Kagome murmured, smiling. "Sure we'll hang out. I'll text you." It wasn't expected by either of them, but Kagome suddenly reached out to pull him down and kiss him. It was dry and a bit awkward at first, too chaste. She tried again and it suddenly turned hungry, Inuyasha's hands sliding over the butt of her jeans and pulling her in close. Kagome let it happen, sighed, bit his lower lip because she knew it got to him every time.

"If I don't go now, I'll be fucking you on your front porch," Inuyasha muttered between kisses.

"So elegant," she said back, lightly pushing him away. "Go, before I make only bad decisions."

With a smirk, Inuyasha turned and disappeared, running into the night. Kagome didn't watch his ass as he left because that would just be a bit too needy.

The house was relatively quiet but Kagome should've known it wouldn't stay that way. Just as she took off her shoes, Kikyo stepped into the front entrance. "Hey, do you– _oh my god_."

"What?" Kagome asked, a bit disgruntled.

"You and your mystery man were totally just making out on the porch, weren't you?" Kikyo laughed, watching the flush crawl up her roommate's skin. "You look _ruined._ "

"I do not!" Kagome whined. That was a bit too high-pitched to be believable. However, saying the worst of her hair was due to the wind when they were running back might narrow down the suspect list.

"Yeah, yeah," Kikyo replied, smiling. "Come on, I bought ice cream. Sango's not home yet so she can't eat it all _and_ exams are next week, so we can cry about that if you don't want to talk about your boy."

Sango was clearly clairvoyant because the moment they removed the lid off the container, she burst through the door. "I'm a taken woman, bitches! Halleluiah!"

" _What?_ " Kagome and Kikyo yelled, torn between interrogation and laughter.

"Who?" Kikyo demanded, getting another spoon for the dessert.

Sango's smile became a goofy sort of ridiculous. "Miroku. He, uh, chased me down in the middle of the hall like a crazy person and then kissed me."

Kagome cooed. Kikyo scooped up some ice cream and made kissing faces. "Oooh, romantic!"

"So that's where you were?" Kagome asked. Miroku's strange lack of appearance to Inuyasha's apartment now made sense.

Sango nodded, eating the ice cream before answering. "We walked around, got dinner…usual stuff."

"I'm surprised he didn't whisk you away to the bedroom," Kikyo stated, waggling her spoon at her.

"Nah, apparently Inuyasha's been having his _friend_ over at times. Miroku said he was particularly strange about it today so we wanted to avoid the place." Sango shrugged while Kagome choked on her ice cream. "I don't get him."

"Really?" Kagome asked, shoving more ice cream in her mouth to stop from saying anything stupid.

"Yeah, he's got this friend with benefits thing going on," Sango explained, looking annoyed. "He didn't even say anything; I had to find out because of a _hickey_. He won't say anything about her, at all, no matter how hard Miroku or I try. I can't imagine _who_ it could be."

Kikyo raised a brow. "Asshole, keeping his sex life to himself like that."

"Shut up! No, it's not like that, I just–" Sango sighed, running her free hand through her brown hair. "He acts like this jerk all the time but he's such a liar. Inuyasha's like a damn clingy puppy when he wants to be and I don't want him to get hurt. He deserves better than some random chick that could take him or leave him."

Kagome tried to absorb that, desperately wanting to ask _but what if he hurts her instead? What if it's the other way around?_ She just hammered more ice cream into her mouth and didn't say a thing.

The ice cream didn't taste nearly as sweet as it did before.

* * *

The library was full of people, _packed_ due to exams. Everyone looked sleep-deprived or jittery on too much caffeine. His official start date for the examination period was today and while Inuyasha liked to think he wasn't a slacker, he was hardly prepared. The last of his engineering projects with Sango had gone mostly according to plan, but that meant he'd spent the majority of the past few nights listening to her rage on Skype with him and Miroku about people being unable to edit their own work – _cough, cough_ Hiten _cough, cough_ Manten _cough_.

Right now his mind was so full of mathematics and principles that he could hardly walk straight. He had about another thirty minutes before he should start walking over to the main hall where examinations were written. Then he'd have about fifteen minutes of waiting at his desk before the invigilator told him he could start writing an exam that would probably give him a thousand grey hairs – which was not funny, because his hair was _silver_ and there was a _difference_.

His textbook mocked him, staring at him like it was the first time the half-demon had opened it and still didn't fully grasp the concepts. Inuyasha _knew_ he understood the material, knew it all like the back of his hand. His mind was numb from it, completely desensitized from the world around him. It would take about a half-hour after his exam until Inuyasha would start to feel normal again, as the equations and physics slowly drained from his body.

"I'm surprised you're here," a familiar female voice greeted him from behind. Inuyasha turned in his seat, staring up at Kagome's pale face. She looked just as haggard as he probably did, and it was strange that seeing her now reminded him of how long it had been since they last spent time together. They would text occasionally, usually to invite the other over. The end of the semester had approached so quickly that genuine time to 'hang out' was hardly an option.

"Do you have an exam today?"

"At twelve-thirty, yeah," Kagome replied, sighing. She squinted and rubbed at her face, clearly exhausted. "I know so much about incest and transformational goddesses and slaying dragons and murder right now, I'm not sure I should be talking to normal people. I might scare them."

"You exclude me from the normal group?" Inuyasha asked, narrowing his eyes. He was trying to determine if either of them were making any sense at the current moment.

"You're an engineer, of course you're not normal," Kagome muttered. "Who would willingly subject themselves to courses and workloads like that?"

It was a fair point, so Inuyasha just shrugged. He vaguely thought he heard his textbook laughing behind him. That was probably his imagination. "Are you ready at least?"

"I should be," Kagome answered, shrugging. "But the professor loves to throw in questions where you're required to be so detailed it's nearly impossible."

"You'll do fine," Inuyasha said, trying for a smile although it felt a little crooked. His face hadn't been expressing emotion for the past four hours straight – it probably didn't remember how. "Are you writing in Togo Hall?"

"Yeah, section twenty. You?"

"Five. Want to head over? I'm not going to be learning anything else," Inuyasha explained, looking at his textbook resentfully. "I can't say I'll be the best at conversation though."

Kagome smiled and nodded, waiting patiently against the study desk while he packed up. "I thought you'd be with Miroku or Sango studying. They're at the engineering library, which is frankly where I thought you'd be."

"They're still in that lovey-dovey mooning phase," Inuyasha stated, making a face. "And I hang out enough with them that it gets to the point of intolerable."

"They're not _that_ bad," Kagome argued. "They're cute."

"Do you have three classes a day with one of them, or both of them, at a minimum? You don't know my pain." Inuyasha hefted his backpack up and led the way out of the library. "And Miroku keeps _thanking me_ because apparently it was something I said that made him find the balls to ask her out."

"As I heard the story, he practically jumped her in the hall trying to kiss her," Kagome replied, laughing. "Is that what you heard?"

Inuyasha snorted, pushing back at his silver hair. "Yeah right. I heard about a manful tale of mutual agreement to get together, followed by sex in some closet."

"Sango would never."

"Which is why it's so funny." Inuyasha smirked. "If only they _knew_."

"What? How fantastic sex in a closet can be?" Kagome asked, trying not to laugh.

" _No_. Well, yeah, but I meant more how they're both so screwed now because they don't know we talk and we'll figure out all of their dirty secrets." Inuyasha shrugged. "They're not exactly smart like we are. They blab too much."

"And they don't have sex in closets," Kagome added, mock-serious. "Not smart at all."

"Miroku is probably thinking about it though right this minute," Inuyasha said, holding open the door to get into another connected building. Togo Hall was another few minutes away – up some stairs and then a walk across a pedestrian street outside. Inuyasha didn't even want to _think_ about the winter chill that would creep in his jacket the moment he stepped out of the warm building. "He's scary like that."

"Sango would never allow it though. You know how anal she gets about marks." Kagome laughed, shaking her head. "If anyone needs to get laid in a closet, it's her."

"It would be completely stress-reducing," Inuyasha agreed. "She'd yell at me less for typing _t-e-h_ instead of _the_."

"Seriously, you mess that up?"

"I'm typing at four in the morning," Inuyasha snapped, a bit defensive. "Shut up. All you have to do is read books on fairies and illicit love."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Look who needs to get laid in a closet now."

Stopping, the half-demon pulled out his cell phone and checked the time. They had a solid twenty minutes before they were supposed to line up, _and_ another fifteen minutes before the exam even started. Technically, they could just be the last in line and get shitty exam seats. It's not like where you sat actually _mattered_.

"Oh no," Kagome muttered, brown eyes wide. "Come on, we have an exam!"

"They always say stress is bad for memory," Inuyasha replied, grabbing her wrist and dragging her away. All of the closets were locked, of course, so the half-demon decided that an abandoned stairwell was as good a place as any. Kagome was rambling on behind him, telling him a hundred reasons why they _shouldn't_ and sliding her hands under the waistband of his sweats to feel burning skin. He pressed her up against the nearest wall, the stairway door shutting with a loud click.

Kagome froze. "Tell me that doesn't automatically lock."

Too busy kissing her neck, Inuyasha barely held back his frown, nipping at her ear. "Huh?"

"The door to the stairs, does it lock? Or will opening it cause a fire alarm?" Kagome didn't exactly sound calm anymore, her hands pushing against his chest until they landed on the doorknob. She tugged it open and the door willingly went – no alarms, no lock. The black-haired woman breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Jesus, you're wound up," Inuyasha muttered, more to himself than her. "I think you're going to need more than one round of sex to fix you."

"You–" Shutting her mouth, she tugged on his silver hair until he was leaning down and kissing her. It was forceful, yet he melted into her touch. The wall was cold against his hands so he grabbed at her sides instead, the smooth feel of her shirt rubbing the closer she tried to get to him. Kissing her was still something that threw him for a loop – the way she dived in like she was starving for it, heating him up from the inside until he couldn't hold back anymore.

One of her legs was wrapped loosely around his thigh, so he grabbed it and hefted it up, tugging her to him while moving back towards the wall. Their kiss broke, Kagome's soft pants slicing through the silence as her fingers traced gently down his face. With her so close and their exam so near, Inuyasha wasted no time thrusting against her, the layers of clothing doing nothing to stop the heady rush. Kagome kept squirming in his embrace, her hips moving in minute circles until she gasped. Holding her down, Inuyasha thrust harder, knowing that the friction could feel good for her too, could get her off without even removing her clothes.

His mind was already so numb from the mathematics, the physics, the theories – it wasn't hard for Kagome to take up all the empty spaces and to overtake the ones he'd rather forget. The numbness started to evaporate, started to build like a fire beneath his skin until he was embarrassingly close to coming far too soon. This was what she did to him, what she made him like when he went without her for so long. Like finally getting your fix when you've been in withdrawal, Inuyasha let the feeling take him higher, so close, _so close–_

Hands pushed at his chest and Inuyasha had to blink _hard_ just to get a grasp of what was happening behind the haze. Kagome was no longer trapped beneath him but her hands were there, tugging at the band of his sweatpants and boxers and dragging them all down at once. There was only a moment of cold air before warm, wet delicious heat surrounded his cock and he had maybe one second to curse before his climax hit. It was a struggle to even stay upright when all he wanted to do was curl in, surround himself in the pleasure and never wake up.

"Jesus fucking hell," he murmured, rather roughly. He realized that the wall wasn't actually too far away so he leaned forward, head rested on the side of his arm as he looked down at the black mop of wavy hair.

Kagome's brown eyes finally made an appearance, her lips curving up in a smile while she tugged the waistband of his pants back up. She was strangely balanced with so little room between him and the wall, but she collapsed back until she was sitting, a flush to her cheeks and a swollen mouth that he wanted to kiss all over again. "You owe me big time."

"Hmm?" Inuyasha was sure that he probably did, although he didn't know why exactly. It would probably come back to him if given some time but with the clock ticking in his head that he needed to get to his exam and fast, there was very little time for that.

"I saved you from having the worst exam in history," she replied easily. Holding out a hand, Kagome let Inuyasha tug her up until their bodies were flush together once more. "I figured having sticky boxers during your three hour exam wouldn't exactly be pleasant. It might have even been distracting."

That hadn't actually occurred to him, so Inuyasha merely stared at her, golden eyes wide. "You went down on me so I wouldn't have to suffer?"

Kagome shrugged. "Basically, but we can talk about how you'll pay me back later. We've got an exam to write."

While she opened the door and walked out, Inuyasha simply stood there, watching the spot where she had once been. Holy shit. She gave him a blowjob – kind of – because it would be more convenient for him.

This, he could only imagine, was possibly love.

"Are you coming or what?" Kagome's head poked back into the stairwell, brown eyes twinkling. "Well, you did. But are you walking with me to Togo Hall or shall I just escort myself?"

"You should never speak in pun again," Inuyasha stated simply, grabbing the door and following her outside. With the way he was floating, a mixture of math and Kagome and more physics and Kagome, this exam was going to go really well.

"We should tell Miroku and Sango that sex in a closet really does help before exams," he murmured in her ear, lightly touching her back as he directed her outside. The winter chill bit but he was still warm, still vibrating in the afterglow.

And if Kagome stepping closer to him so he could wrap his arm around her waist made him warmer, well, no one was looking at them anyways.

* * *

"Mm, yeah I'll talk to you later sweetheart," Kagome purred, clicking the headset until the line went dead.

Sango just stared at her.

"What?" Kagome asked, raising a brow as she gulped down another glass of water. She'd been working for the past few hours, trying to make up for the time she took off during exams. She had one more to go three days from now and then it was her winter holidays. She'd be leaving the next morning; her mother had already arranged with her brother to come pick her and all of her stuff back up. It would be strange going back home. She'd barely have time to say goodbye to Kikyo and Sango, never mind anyone else.

Her roommate continued to look at her weirdly now, gaze almost assessing. "Not that I know, because I don't really since you usually hide up in your room when you work but… You're getting, uh–"

Kagome put her glass down and walked over to her friend, curious. "I'm getting what? Good?"

"Well you've always been good I guess," Sango replied carefully, head tilted. "But now you sound _dirtier_ , like what you're saying is what's _really_ going on."

"It's supposed to always sound like that," she pointed out.

Sango huffed, rolling her eyes fondly. "Yes but now you sound _experienced_ , like you've done it all before."

Laughing was probably not the best response but it was the only thing Kagome could come up with. "I can assure you that is most certainly not the case. Trust me – I have never screwed my teacher in a library while calling him _daddy_."

"But…"

It was a test and she knew it. Kagome raised another brow and then sat down at the kitchen table, propping her head in her hands. "Beating around the bush was never your style, let's face it."

"Okay," Sango drawled, clearly amused at being caught. "But Kikyo hasn't said anything and you won't say anything and I know I haven't been around a lot–"

"Well you knew Miroku was insatiable when you signed on," Kagome interrupted, grinning. "What? Is the sex not good?"

" _What_?" The brown-haired woman looked horrified, at the accusation or the thought she wasn't sure. "We're not– We haven't– You're turning this around on me!"

Her cell phone started to buzz in the pocket of her jeans, so Kagome pulled it out even as Sango continued to stutter and yell at her.

 _You coming over or what?_

Kagome grinned and responded, typing in her text before peering up from the screen. Sango was silent now, studying her.

"Who are you texting?"

"A friend, why?" Kagome asked. She and Inuyasha had planned to get together tonight to celebrate his freedom. He had finished his last exam earlier this morning and yet for some reason he was staying for the next couple days, possibly the week. Kagome hadn't been able to get too much from him, other than he rather not spend the holidays at home. "Look, if you're the one that's in a relationship and not getting laid, _that's_ what we should be discussing. I thought Miroku would ask you out and then whip it out in the same sentence."

Covering her face, Sango made incomprehensible noises that sounded a lot like 'oh god.' "No, I like him! I don't want to just start with sex. We should take things slow, right?"

Kagome smiled at her and reached across so that their fingers could touch. "You guys should go as slow as you want, because as long as it's perfect for you then _that_ is all that matters."

Sango sighed, the tips of her lips turning up. "So there's no one you've got stashed in a closet that I don't know about?"

"No," Kagome replied, studiously not thinking about Inuyasha's shirt that she had yet to give back. "No, otherwise you'd be the first to know." Standing up, she put her glass in the sink and went to wash it. The smell of lavender filled the kitchen while she tidied up, hands focusing on her task. "I'm going to head out for a study session with some friends for my witchcraft exam coming up. You'll be okay?"

"Oh god, just because I'm dating Miroku doesn't mean I've become this fragile little flower," Sango remarked, glaring. "Give me more credit than that."

"It means the opposite, actually," Kikyo stated, stepping into the kitchen with a grin. "Putting up with _him_ has got to give her some points towards the Nobel Peace Prize."

"That is _ridiculous_!"

"I'm going," Kagome muttered, leaving Kikyo and Sango to squabble it out over ice cream. She ran upstairs to throw some stuff in her backpack – her witchcraft textbook even though it was _definitely_ not going to be looked at, her face wash, a change of clothes – before grabbing her phone and sending out another message. _Have you left yet?_

 _I've been outside your damn house for two minutes already. Come._

Rolling her eyes, Kagome ran back downstairs and spared only a glance to make sure neither of her roommates were paying attention before leaving. Inuyasha was leaning against the porch railing, looking somewhere between sexy and annoyed. "You should have sent me a text that you were here," she said, checking to make sure she still had her keys before walking towards him.

"You said you'd be ready in five minutes. I've been out here for eight."

"Oh come _on_ ," Kagome mumbled, swatting at him. "You know I wasn't being exact."

"I did? Then how come I've been _freezing my ass_ waiting outside for you?" Inuyasha huffed before shaking his head and turning around. "Come on already. I'm going to have a hard enough time sneaking you in as it is. Miroku's probably back already from the library."

Holding on tightly to him, Kagome let the half-demon adjust her before he took off. It was a terrifying experience every time, that first push off where you went from zero to sixty and couldn't breathe. Kagome buried her face in his neck, feeling his cold skin against her nose. The trip to his place wasn't long but instead of stopping at his front door like she was used to, Kagome yelled out when he _jumped_.

" _Ow_ , could you yell a little quieter?" Inuyasha hissed, making a face at her.

"You took me by surprise," Kagome sent back, only then taking note as to where they were. It was significantly harder this time to hold back the scream and from the look of horror on Inuyasha's face, he could tell.

"Kagome, it's okay I won't let you–"

"Why are we hanging onto the side of a building several stories up because I swear if I _fall_ …" And now her voice was getting higher, her arms clinging tighter to him. They were dangling off the side of a building and she was potentially going to die.

Inuyasha didn't even respond. He heaved himself up and pushed at the window that was already cracked open. Kagome watched with a sort of fascinated horror as the half-demon inspected his work and then turned his head to look at her. "We might have a problem."

"I'm sorry, what?" Kagome couldn't help the reflex of holding on tighter, even when Inuyasha winced and swallowed. "What sort of problem?"

"Normally I climb in the window myself but even then it's a bit of a squeeze," the half-demon murmured. "You're going to have to crawl up me and then get in by yourself."

"Oh good," she stated, somewhat shocked. "I've always wanted to try this."

"You have?"

" _No_ , of course I haven't," Kagome snapped. She understood what he wanted her to do though so she went to reach up, to grab the windowsill just like he was.

"Kagome, you need to let go of me to climb in," Inuyasha said soothingly. "I won't let you fall."

"Yeah, you know, I'm trying," she said lightly, because she actually _was_. Her hand just refused to co-operate with the plan. "Just…"

Inuyasha sighed. "Hold on." It was a quick, almost startling movement, but before Kagome could yell in protest it was done. Inuyasha was only holding on with one hand, his other wrapped around her hips to push her up. "See? Now you won't fall."

"Oh, I can still fall," Kagome assured him. She didn't want to let on just how much better she felt, but the evidence of her hand letting go from around his neck was probably evidence enough. With the silver-haired half-demon's help, she was able to get a good grasp of the windowsill and pull herself in. It was definitely in her top ten of things she never wanted to try again, but when Kagome fell in and landed headfirst on the carpet, she could do nothing but laugh hysterically.

Inuyasha landed on top of her but with a stupid amount of control. He'd probably done it on purpose.

"The things I do for you, I _swear_ ," Kagome muttered, laughing some more as she stared at the ceiling. "I don't think Juliet would've come close to attempting that."

"So we're star-crossed lovers now?" Inuyasha smirked at her, crawling closer until she could only see golden eyes and silver hair.

Kagome laughed even harder. It was most likely the last of her sanity had never made it inside of his bedroom. "I don't know about that part, but we certainly sneak around enough to give them a run for their money."

Humming, Inuyasha leaned down to kiss at her exposed neck, warming the cold skin. "You didn't even wear a jacket. Are you fucking crazy?"

"It only takes a few minutes to get here," Kagome replied. She had actually forgotten it in her rush to leave the house but he didn't have to know that. "Besides, don't you normally warm me up?"

Stripping off his jacket, the half-demon smirked down at her. He carefully shed each piece of clothing from his waist up, fingers undoing zippers and pushing off clothing. Kagome was helpless to do anything but watch, her body trapped under his legs while he stripped on top of her. It was a fantastic show.

"You'll have to be quiet since Miroku's here," Kagome told him, trying wiggle free.

A low chuckle stopped her from moving, Inuyasha leaning down to frame her face with his hands. "Oh, Miroku's not here."

Kagome felt her mouth drop. "He _what_?! _Inuyasha_!"

"I didn't know until we got inside," the half-demon argued in defence, his smirk still firmly in place. He was getting a _kick_ out of this, Kagome knew it.

"I almost died."

"I would've caught you," Inuyasha said, part gentle and part smug.

Kagome glared. "I almost _died_."

"And I would've caught you," he repeated, pressing his lips against hers to stop any further protests.

Kagome didn't bother trying to argue with him then. Not when he started to crawl down her body, unzipping her sweater with his teeth while his hands roamed along the soft flesh of her stomach. Somewhere along the way her jeans came undone – she didn't even want to contemplate _how_ – and Kagome moaned as the half-demon sucked bruises along her hips. "Take it off," she murmured, torn between letting her legs straighten to help him remove her jeans and letting her legs wrap around his waist to bring him closer. In the end neither happened, because Inuyasha hadn't even finished removing her pants before he pushed her thong to the side and slipped a finger inside.

It was almost embarrassing how quickly she got with the program, how she arched her back from the carpeted floor and fucked herself on his fingers. Inuyasha groaned somewhere above her and she reached out blindly – when had she closed her eyes? – only to feel long, soft hair between her fingertips. She pulled, tugging him upwards until lips crashed against hers and she couldn't breathe. The fact that they'd been doing this for the past three months and still Kagome felt powerless to it niggled in the back of her mind. Did other people having casual sex last this long, doing this as often as they did? What happened to the _rest_?

Her climax took her by surprise. Her muscles coiled and tensed as her orgasm made the world fade away. She didn't feel the burn of carpet on her elbows or her back. The world shrunk down to Inuyasha and her, the way he was hovering over her with his lips by her jaw, his one hand by her head and the other still buried deep inside her.

"You said I owed you one," he whispered in her ear. "Shall I get started?"

"Did you just say 'shall' because I swear normal people don't– _Mmm…_ " She moaned, cutting herself off when his fingers curled inside of her. She felt them slowly pull out, the wetness leaving a trail between her thighs as he traced his fingers along the hot skin. His thumb pressed inside of her, pumping only a few times before he pulled out to smear it across her clit.

Like a shock she jolted, far too sensitive as she scrambled to grab at something. His shoulders were strong, muscular, and she scratched along them while he traced lazy circles along her clit. The sounds she was making were borderline pathetic, a desperation in them that she wouldn't admit to. "Please just fuck me," she begged, hands scrabbling down his sides to his front, trying to tug off the belt.

"I need to get stuff," he told her, seemingly not hurried at all. It would have bothered her if he hadn't been slowly torturing her, the growing hardness of his erection pressing down against her leg. She pushed against her heel so that her leg would rub against him. "Yeah, okay, I get it," he murmured, pulling away.

"In my bag," she said, turning her head to see the scattered contents of clothes and bottles. It had collapsed in a heap when she fell through the window and now Inuyasha was dumping the contents of it out unceremoniously to find the package of condoms.

He raised a brow at the clothes. "Were you planning on staying?"

"I was planning on being prepared just in case," Kagome responded, smiling at him lazily. "Unlike me, you don't have clothes of mine around your place. I will not do the walk of shame, thanks."

"Is that what I did when I left your place?" he asked, grabbing one of the packets and then crawling back over her. His hands slid under her back, lifting her up so that he could unsnap her bra.

"You had another t-shirt. It saved face a little." Her fingers popped the button on his jeans, trying to reach for the zipper but he was already pushing her back down to the floor. His bed was less than two steps away and yet the carpet was the better option. His hands pressed against the indent of bone on her hips, his claws lightly dancing until he was pulling off her underwear along with her pants still pooled around her ankles. It put her off, just a little, that he was still partially dressed. "Are you going to take care of that, or what?" she asked teasingly, letting her hands float above her head. Giving him a show might get him to hurry the hell up.

Inuyasha grinned, leaning over so that his lips were an inch from hers. "Roll over."

Her first reaction was to ask why, but it wasn't hard to put two and two together. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she lifted the lower half of her body up until she was nearly flush against him, her hips pressing against the insistent bulge in his pants. Inuyasha groaned, one hand coming up to keep her there against him. She played dirty and circled her hips, letting the friction dictate exactly what she wanted.

"Jesus Christ," he hissed, flipping her until she was on her knees, her back pressed to his front. "You shouldn't do shit like that," he told her, his hands roaming along her back and down her ass. His fingers ghosted along her skin, his breath a puff against her spine.

The sound of his jeans pooling to the floor had her pushing back, insistent to get things going. The condom packet was opened and Kagome spread her legs while looking at the carpet and wondering what exactly she was doing. When two fingers pressed inside of her, crooking at just the right angle to make her groan, every thought she had flew out the window. His lips danced along the ridges of her spine, words whispered into skin that she couldn't quite pick up on. The moment his thumb started to tease her clit she was begging, trying her hardest to push back and get what she really wanted from all this.

"Oh god, Inuyasha," she breathed, sinking down on her arms so that her forehead touched the beige carpet.

The half-demon hummed from over top of her, teeth biting somewhere around the middle of her back. "What do you want?" he asked, too casual and too calm and Kagome was going to kill him. She was so close, so _fucking_ close to coming and he was about as calm as a man walking through a damn park.

"I want you to fuck me," she insisted, rolling her hips so that his fingers slid deeper inside. She moaned, unnecessarily loud but by this point she was lost to it. Inuyasha made no move to change things, no move to fix the problem and do what she was asking of him. It wasn't fair. A long, torturous circle along her clit had her tensing up, so close to orgasm she could practically feel it taking over her already. She needed this, damn it. Why wasn't he listening to her? "Inuyasha–" Her voice broke off, breathy and weak as his fingers pumped in and out of her, over and over and _fuck_ – "I want _you_."

Suddenly his fingers were gone, only to be replaced by his cock shoving deep inside of her. He was big and warm and _fuck_ he felt so good. Kagome cried out after his first thrust, body shaking as her orgasm finally took over. Her legs spread wider to accommodate him, arms already complaining with the effort. His hands were at her hips, holding her tightly against him while he circled inside of her. Inuyasha was giving her a moment to recover, she figured that much out, but at this point she just wanted to feel him filling her up and having his way. She moaned weakly, pushing back against him until he got the point and started to thrust, a brutal rhythm of snapping hips and sweat-slick skin.

Every time she tried to say something, he'd do something to distract her. Whether it was thrusting so hard she slid or tugging on a nipple, Kagome was nothing more than a mess of nerves and need. She urged him on with nothing more than her body, keeping her legs tight to the outside of him while he pounded into her over and over.

"Oh fuck," he groaned, his hands wrapping around her waist tightly, pulling her to him so that she was practically sitting on his lap. His teeth bit at the back of her neck, one hand toying with her breast while he fucked her from behind. "You've no idea," he whispered, sounding wrecked, close and Kagome let her head fall back on his shoulder, let him see exactly what he was doing to her.

Inuyasha came with a shout pressed into her skin, his arms a vice-like grip around her as if she would run at any moment. Even with the condom she could feel his cock pulsing inside of her, hot release being swallowed by the latex. It occurred to her that if this was going to keep happening, birth control would probably be a good idea.

The thought shattered the moment Inuyasha moved, his face nuzzling her hair. "Does that make it even again?"

Kagome hummed thoughtfully, far too sated to really care. "You know, if that's what I get for having you in my debt, I'm going to have to wrap my lips around your dick more often."

Laughing lightly, Inuyasha helped her to get off of him so he could take care of the mess. Kagome did little more than crawl to his bed, making grabby motions towards the Kleenex box so he'd hand it to her. Sated and sleepy, Kagome relaxed into the pillows and didn't even crack an eye open when Inuyasha joined her.

"You know," she murmured softly, "as far as a last night together goes that was a pretty fantastic start."

"Last night?"

Kagome didn't have to see him to know that he was frowning. Opening her eyes, she tapped him lightly on the chin. "Winter holidays, remember? The morning after my last exam I'm getting picked up."

"Right, yeah." Inuyasha leaned back down, pillowing his head in his hands. "I forgot about that."

Moving herself over slowly, she flopped her head down onto his chest and sighed. "We'll be at the cottage in under two weeks. Miroku is far too excited for this. I think he's got this plan for Sango on New Year's Eve."

"Yeah, like having loud, obnoxious sex while the rest of us are trying to block them out," Inuyasha replied, snorting.

Kagome giggled, nodding. "Don't lie – we'll be doing it too. What? You think you can keep your hands off of me while we're there? It's going to be hard enough being in the same room and acting like we don't know each other explicitly well."

"So picturing you naked is _not_ a good idea– _Hey_! Ow, what are you doing, crazy?"

Grinning, Kagome flipped over so that she was half-sprawled on top of him. "Do you think we should tell them? I mean, it's been three months and either they're going to figure it out or we'll slip up."

"If they haven't figured it out yet, I doubt they're going to," Inuyasha said dryly. "But I guess we could. How would we even bring that to their attention? _Hey guys, by the way, that girl I've been having sex with frequently before group meetings and tests, yeah – it's Kagome_. _We fooled you!'_ "

Kagome blinked. "Okay. So maybe not. Maybe we'll say something if they…if they bring it up? We can just slip it in there, or something. Casually."

The look Inuyasha gave her was a mixture between incredulous and horrified. "You're aware that Sango is going to kill you. She'll likely castrate me and then kill me after."

The two of them just lay there, staring at each other while the possibilities of Sango's rage danced around them.

"Want takeout?" Inuyasha asked, somewhat hopeful.

"Please. I'm going to need to eat as much as I can to keep up with the calories I burn tonight."

Inuyasha grinned. "Is that so?"

"What?" Kagome asked, blinking innocently. "You thought temporary-goodbye sex only included one round?"

"I didn't know there was such a thing, but I'm glad."

Laughing, Kagome absolutely did not kiss him breathless just because she wanted to.

* * *

 **Responses to Anon Reviewers:**

 _ThatGirl:_ OMG really? That's insane! I used to have them a lot as a teen – I had them for a solid year probably until I realized that it was probably really bad for me lol. Never had something like that happen! Mine are still on but they're an appropriate length so I can type again :D And thank you so much! I hope you liked this one just as much!

 _Guest:_ YAS. Well, I am so glad that you did. Thank you thank you!

 _The Well:_ I feel only vaguely like a drug dealer, which is better than expected haha. Hope you enjoy your fix, love. There's certainly more to come!

 _LoverOfStories:_ Why thank you, darling! I really appreciate it :D

 _BGuate224:_ I need you to know that I almost died laughing when I read your comment. Died. There were tears in my eyes. Oh my god, plausibility for this in real life? Man. You almost killed me but what a way to go. Don't worry; I trust you. Thanks love!

 _Offline:_ Aw, thank you so much! That really mean a lot and I super appreciate you letting me know :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

* * *

 **Feedback is love.**


	5. Part V

**Author's Note:** Guys, you're way too kind to me.

 **12 Days of Witchyness:** Prompts are still welcome! There are quite a few already made but there's still spots left (plus, I should probably update something after this and before the 12DoW, yes?)

* * *

 **Pennies and Dimes**

 **Part V**

* * *

This was the stupidest idea. _Ever_.

The fact that he was even here, shifting from foot to foot like a nervous virgin about to finally _do it_ said something about him. Inuyasha knew this was coming – it was a long time coming, actually. He should've known that the _not-friends with benefits_ thing was a bad idea, _especially_ when it changed to _friends with benefits_.

Now, they were still friends but Inuyasha wanted a fuckload more. He liked her. More than liked her and now it was messing with his head, throwing him off. Inuyasha couldn't remember the last relationship he had and this… This was different. They didn't start out with coffee and casual flirting that eventually became more intense until they ripped off each other's clothes. They started out ripping off each other's clothes to casual flirting and now… Well, now.

Inuyasha knocked on her window.

He wasn't particularly a fan of hanging off the side of buildings, mostly because people looked at him funny. He was clearly of demonic heritage but the fact was that people just didn't do weird things like that. Unfortunately Kagome wasn't answering her phone and he didn't want to make the mistake of knocking on the door and having Sango answer it.

The blinds suddenly moved and Kagome's brown eyes stared at him incredulously. "What the hell are you doing?" she screamed, loud enough that he could easily hear her through the glass. She looked about as horrified as he was embarrassed.

This was a bad idea.

Kagome opened the window then, standing back so that he could crawl inside. The window was a lot more narrow than his own, so when he collapsed into an ungraceful heap, face-first on her floor, he didn't try to get up right away. There was no dignity left, sad to say.

"Inuyasha," the black-haired girl hissed, her toe prodding his side. "Seriously, what the hell are you doing here? It's eleven at night."

"I wanted coffee." Inuyasha scrunched up his face as he pushed himself from the floor, making his way to her bed before falling down on it.

"You wanted coffee so you came here." It was evident in her tone that Kagome didn't believe him, not for one second. She stepped closer though, her hands coming to his winter jacket to unzip it. She shook her head, a smile forming. "You want to elaborate at all?"

Inuyasha didn't want to do this. It was a bad idea, really. What the fuck had he been thinking? "I don't have coffee at my place," he murmured, chickening out. "I figured with Sango as a roommate, you were bound to have some."

The coffee shop two blocks down had some too but Inuyasha wasn't going to bring it up. Not anymore.

"Oh god, I'm already your slave," Kagome muttered, heading towards the door. "Sugar? Milk?"

"Neither thanks," he said, closing his eyes to obscure the view of the ceiling. He was an utter tool. While Kagome left her room to get him coffee, Inuyasha debated what exactly he was going to do now. Sitting up, he realized with a slight horror that there was a large luggage case sitting in the middle, various shirts and bras and books thrown haphazardly inside of it. He should've known – it was the reason he came after all. Kagome was leaving tomorrow morning and he wouldn't see her for over a week and it was…kind of strange how displeased that made him. But he knew, deep down, exactly what that meant.

The big question now was how he would tell Kagome. _If_ he would tell Kagome was almost the bigger one. Quite frankly, Inuyasha didn't do shit like this. Emotionally stunted was a title best served to Miroku and Sango prior to their love confessions; Inuyasha couldn't contemplate what title _he'd_ be given on the subject. Would Kagome even want that? They'd made it clear at the beginning that all they ever were to each other were fuck buddies. He preferred her undressed and loud while she begged and pleaded and spoke filthy words to him. She got… Well, what did she get out of it? Sex, he assumed, although she could've gotten that from anyone. _Hojo_ for example, even though Inuyasha pointedly refused to think about it. The guy was clearly in love with her. Sango had said it often enough that it had to be true. The fact that Kagome didn't want him to talk to Hojo meant that she knew too. So what was stopping her then from saying 'I'm over this' and then hopping into bed with sandy-haired, stuttering moron?

Thinking about this was bad for his health. Inuyasha unclenched his hands and then stood up, pacing. When he realized that wasn't much better, he looked around her bedroom for something to distract him. There were photos on her dresser; people he didn't recognize but could only assume were her family. There was an older woman who looked exactly like Kagome probably would in the future, with short wavy hair and a gentle smile. There was a young boy too, holding an absurdly fat cat and making faces at it. Behind the other photos was a smaller, silver frame holding a black and white picture. At first Inuyasha blinked, because the woman in the wedding dress looked an awful lot like Kagome. The eyes were different though, which led him to believe that it was her parents. Her father was taller by a good few inches, hair tied back and a laughing expression on his face as he chased after his bride.

"Here you go, your Majesty," Kagome said loudly upon arrival, the door shutting behind her to give them privacy. Inuyasha had heard her coming up the steps, the carefulness evident in the footfalls. The coffee mug was filled to the brim of the dark liquid and Inuyasha turned his head away from the photos to get it from her.

"Thanks," he said, feeling the heat surround his hands the moment he took it. Kagome had a smaller mug too, the colour a lot creamier. "How much milk do you put in there?"

"Enough," Kagome replied, raising a brow. "With three sugars." Inuyasha tried to hold back his cringe but the smile on Kagome's face – so much like the bride's in the photograph – said that he'd failed. Her brown eyes went over to the dresser, seeing what he'd apparently been up to while she was gone. "Those are some pretty old pictures."

"I noticed," he murmured, carefully shutting himself up by taking a sip.

Kagome seemed to notice the questions he had so she walked over to them, pointing at the one with the cat. "That's my younger brother Souta. He's four years younger and rather bratty, but I guess all younger brothers are, aren't they? My cat, Buyo." She raised a photo that Inuyasha hadn't really paid attention to, but he could see the importance right away. Kagome handed it to him, nodding to it with her head. "That's us at Christmas two years ago. Grandpa wouldn't give up until he had us all dressed up in those ridiculous matching sweaters to take about a billion photographs."

Inuyasha scanned the faces, seeing Kagome hugging her brother, his mother to the side with their grandfather on the other. Her father wasn't there, not that he could see. He looked over at the wedding picture again, wondering what happened to make her keep it.

"He died when I was little." Kagome's voice broke through his thoughts and Inuyasha felt guilt stir in his gut. "He was sick and there wasn't much anyone could do. My brother was born about a week before he passed away. At least he got to hold him, I guess."

"I'm sorry," Inuyasha said softly, handing the group picture back. He gestured towards the wedding photo. "They looked really happy."

"From what Grandpa tells me, they were." Kagome smiled then and stepped closer, nudging him with her arms. "High school sweethearts and all that. Neither of them had a penny to their name but somehow they scrounged enough for a small wedding and a honeymoon from his pickup truck. It's just been me and my mom for a while making the money, which is why I work where I work."

"That's never bothered me, you know," Inuyasha said, nudging her back.

Kagome sighed. "Hmm, yeah. I know. So what _are_ you doing here, really? Did you actually just come for coffee, or is there booty call written all across this?"

The easy answer would be to just tell her, Inuyasha knew. The words were there in his throat, lodged. He was crap at this and Kagome was leaving, Christmas was coming and the cottage… What if Kagome didn't feel the same way and going to the cottage was awkward? Maybe…maybe it would be best if he told her on the last day so that if it didn't work out, they could leave separately and then be done with each other. A clean break. And when school started, they could go back to ignoring each other like they always had.

"Not a booty call," Inuyasha said finally, shrugging. "But it can be if you want. I thought you might need help packing and stuff."

Kagome grinned, putting her coffee down on the nearby desk and taking his from his hands. She put that down too and then laughed. "Well aren't you helpful?"

"I try." Inuyasha smirked. "So what's first? Can I go through your underwear drawer to pick them out?"

When Kagome kissed him, lips tasting like coffee and sugar, Inuyasha didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her and drag her back to the bed. "First, we should have sex because otherwise I'll be too distracted and then I'll forget everything I actually need and then that would be bad, you know?"

"We wouldn't want that," he agreed, winding his fingers through her hair and then pulling her down to kiss her more thoroughly. And even though the night hadn't gone the way he'd wanted it to, this was a very, _very_ close second that he didn't regret at all.

* * *

Her cell phone was ringing horribly. It was the first thought that entered Kagome's mind, followed by _who the hell wants me now_? Making grabby motions with her hands, she reached around her nightstand until it was in her grasp, fingers tapping the screen to answer the call. " _What_?" she snapped, groggy and tired. What had even happened? Inuyasha had come over and they had sex, followed by packing while naked, followed by having sex on her desk because packing naked wasn't exactly the best way to do things, and then _more_ packing because it was getting really late – or early – and her brother was coming to get her at nine a.m. _sharp_ –

Holy fuck.

"Will you let me in?" Souta whined. "It's really cold out here and I've been up since six in the morning so I could come get you on time. Mom is going to kill us if we're late too because she has this big lunch thing planned–"

"I'm coming. Give me a minute." Kagome hung up before her younger brother could whine some more. She turned and _yeah_ , of course Inuyasha was still there, naked in her bed. At least he was looking at her, wide awake although looking like he'd rather not be. His ears twitched on the top of his head, focusing on her while she rolled to face him. "So, my brother is downstairs waiting to come inside and while I do think you're a great guy, I'd rather he not know that you and I were having sex last night."

That finally seemed to sink in because Inuyasha shot out of bed like a rocket. "Where the hell are my clothes?"

"Where are _my_ clothes?" Kagome asked back, fumbling to toss the covers from her body. She should put on new ones – yes, that's what normal people did – because she'd packed her old ones last night. _Right_.

Then, of course, there was a knock on her bedroom door. "Kagome, I let your little brother in! Why would you let him freeze out there, the poor thing?" Kikyo yelled. "I'm making coffee, want some?"

"Yes!" Kagome shouted, forgoing the bra and just putting on a big sweater instead. She had no time – _no time_.

"Can I come in? Seriously, don't tell me you were sleeping still when I called, sis," Souta said through the door. She could practically see the pout.

"No! Don't come in, I'm just… Hold on!" Kagome tugged on sweatpants, figuring it was the best she could do. Oh god, was she actually completely packed? What was she forgetting? She hadn't even brushed her teeth! Why was she so stupid to forget setting her alarm – stupid, stupid, _stupid_. Throwing open the door, Kagome let out an exasperated sigh. "Sorry Souta, I'm just a bit stressed because–"

" _Kagome!_ " Inuyasha hissed loudly.

Eyes widening, Kagome whipped around to realize that Inuyasha was _still there_. Obviously, because where else would he have gone? Worse, he wasn't even fully dressed. Clearly the half-demon was still looking for his t-shirt and _what had she just done_?

"Well," Souta stated, "this is awkward."

Kagome did the only thing a rational human being would do. She slammed the door shut in his face.

"OW! My god Kagome, _my face was RIGHT THERE_!"

"I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry just give me a minute and I'll be there, I _promise_!"

"I'm _bleeding_!"

"What?" Kagome opened the door back up, horrified at the thought of possibly breaking her brother's nose because _that_ would be a good one to tell Mom.

It was rather unfortunate that she realized Souta was grinning from ear to ear. "Fooled you." He turned his head to Inuyasha and stepped forward with his arm extended, as if to shake hands. "Hello stranger who is banging my sister, I'm Souta, her younger brother."

"OH MY GOD, GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" This time when Kagome slammed the door shut, it really did hit him. This time if she broke his nose, Kagome wouldn't care.

"I'm just going to get some coffee while you finish up," Souta said cheerfully. "Come down to the kitchen when you're good and appropriately dressed."

Kagome banged her head against the bedroom door. Twice. "This was _not_ the way I wanted my morning to go."

For the longest moment there was silence, and for a second Kagome was sure that Inuyasha had possibly disappeared. It wasn't until Inuyasha's somewhat pleased grunt – "Found it!" – broke the silence that Kagome was sure her life was quite literally falling around her in pieces.

"I assume you'd like me to go," Inuyasha said slowly.

Kagome turned to look at him, realizing that he was rather close to her but hesitant to touch. She sighed and nodded, closing the distance between them and holding his face in her hands. "Have a good Christmas and stuff. Enjoy your break."

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Inuyasha murmured, golden eyes searching hers. "You too."

Smiling, she pulled him down until they were almost kissing. "I'll text you."

Inuyasha smirked. "I'm sure you will."

The kiss was soft and Kagome was going to ignore her brother for a moment to let this continue when Inuyasha suddenly pulled back, looking worried. "Even though your brother doesn't know me, he knows what I look like. And your roommates, unfortunately, do know me."

"Yeah, so wh– _Oh my god, why is this happening to me?_ " Kagome whined, letting him go. She watched as he gave her a rueful smile before heading towards her window and crawling out. She didn't wait, opening the bedroom door and rushing downstairs. She could hear Souta talking and dear god, if he described Inuyasha it would be a dead giveaway. There weren't a lot of people who had dog ears on top of their head, or long silver hair, or golden eyes. Even from the hallway she could hear Souta's voice, loud and echoing against the walls. "Stop!" she yelled, bursting into the kitchen with her heart in her throat.

Kikyo and Souta simply stared at her, faces a mixture of confusion. Kikyo was even mid-sip, her perfectly painted nails glistening from the ceiling light as she held her mug there, frozen.

"Are you okay?" Souta asked. There was a grin on his face so he knew very well what she was freaking out about. Kikyo, on the other hand, looked flabbergasted at Kagome's outburst. Maybe he hadn't told her. Surely her roommate would be holding an expression just as smug as her darling little brother.

"Fine," Kagome said eventually. "Did you at least pour me a cup too?"

Souta made a face at her, clearly indicating that he had not. Kagome sighed and went to the counter, mind whirling about what she still needed to get. It was only the few toiletries like her face wash and toothbrush that were still unpacked, mostly because she planned on using them this morning.

With her back turned while she made herself a cup of coffee, Kagome clearly didn't see the way Souta turned to Kikyo, and the way Kikyo winked at him in return.

* * *

The worst part about Christmas was the fact that the holiday was supposed to be spent with family. Inuyasha, for the record, did not particularly like his family. They were dysfunctional. They were broken in pieces that no amount of glue could hold back together. Inuyasha didn't resent it – he didn't particularly care – but he didn't like being surrounded by the reminders anyways.

It was Christmas Eve and he had been there a total of twenty-five hours. So far he'd done the bare minimum of communicating – "Hello Dad, Hello Asshole-sorry- _Sesshomaru_ " – and for the rest of time he merely sat down on the couch and watched television. The screen was massive and the HD quality was mind-blowing. It was strange, going home and noticing the very large difference between his student life and his home life. When he was at school, he was careful with his money and bought food only because it was necessary. He didn't spend needlessly. When he was at home…he could live a little, or a lot.

"You look like you're about to shoot yourself," a deep voice said from the doorway.

Inuyasha didn't even bother to look, knowing full well who it was. Sticking up his middle finger, the half-demon let that be answer enough.

"I wasn't complaining," Sesshomaru stated, stepping inside and sitting on the couch. His silver hair, longer than Inuyasha's and far straighter, covered the back of the couch when he slumped on it. "Why are you watching a show about wedding planners?"

"What?" Inuyasha squinted at the TV and realized there were, in fact, crying women with white puffy dresses in hand. "I haven't really been paying attention."

"Are you planning on calling anyone?"

Inuyasha was about to tell his half-brother to fuck right off when he realized the demon gestured to his cell phone. The device was clutched a little too tightly in his hands, and okay, _maybe_ Inuyasha was considering sending a text to Kagome. It was just… How would that look? "No," he answered, forcibly relaxing his grip on it. Handing over the remote, he closed his eyes. "You can pick what you want to watch."

Sesshomaru was silent, although the remote did leave his hands. Inuyasha tried to ignore the older sibling, determining that antagonizing was best saved for when he had decent material to use against the full-demon. Their father had been married twice – once to Sesshomaru's mother when they were young and foolish, and after that to his own mother, a human who passed away far too soon. Inuyasha pushed the thought of her death away immediately, fumbling for his cell phone. Maybe a distraction would be good.

 _Please tell me your holidays are more fun than mine._

Inuyasha sighed and put it down, looking at the television that was now discussing some sort of business reality show. The fact that Sesshomaru was staring at _him_ instead of the television meant nothing good, suggesting that the end result would be a black eye or a split lip. "What?" he snapped, trying his best to look irritated.

Sesshomaru looked smug without moving a facial muscle. It had probably taken a lot of practice time in the mirror. More than anything, it was the most annoying feature his half-brother possessed. "Nothing."

It was starting to bubble up inside of him, the aggravation of being home and dealing with a father who worked twenty-four seven and a half-brother that was more of an asshole than anything else. "The hell it's nothing."

Then his cell phone beeped. _I'm being attacked with sugar and butter. Does that qualify as fun?_

Inuyasha tried very hard not to smirk at that. He did, and for the most part he succeeded. Sesshomaru's snort burst his bubble, however.

 _Are you getting free dessert out of the deal?_

"Who are you talking to?" Sesshomaru asked, face completely impassive.

"A friend."

"Just a friend."

"Yes."

"You've never talked to friends before when you were home."

"This year is different. My friend is chatty."

"Chatty because it's a girl?"

"Chatty because she's chatty by nature."

"So it is a she."

"Fuck off."

"I knew it."

Inuyasha checked the new message. _Shortbread :) Want me to save you some for the cottage?_ He answered back with a very pointed _fuck yes_ and then responded to his brother in a similar fashion. "Fuck you."

Sesshomaru didn't exactly smile, but he stood up and walked out of the room without saying a word. Under normal circumstances, Inuyasha would consider that a win. This time, he was sure it was a loss.

 _I'll hide a tin in your bedroom when we get there so no one is the wiser._

 _You too can hide in the bedroom with no one the wiser._

It took only a few seconds for the response to come. Inuyasha wasn't disappointed. _Maybe, but I guess then it depends on how much sex Sango and Miroku are planning on having._

 _Assume a lot._

 _Then I guess you're going to be a lucky man._

* * *

"Mom! Kagome's texting her boyfriend again!" Souta yelled, cackling wildly as he ran out of the room, a cloud of flour following his every move.

"I am _not!_ " Kagome shouted, a mixture of horrified and shocked. Her brother hadn't said a word when they got home but she should have known the little bugger was going to tell on her. Fantastic. As long as he didn't mention meeting Inuyasha in her bedroom while he was only partially dressed, she wouldn't kill him outright.

"Boyfriend?" Kagome's mother, Midori, asked, poking her head in from the living room. Both of her eyebrows were raised, indicating that while this was expected at some point, she didn't imagine _now_. "What's his name?"

"He doesn't have one because I don't _have_ a boyfriend," Kagome sighed, trying her hardest not to whine. "Mama, don't look at me like that!"

Midori shook her head at her child and smiled, looking around the kitchen at the mess Souta and she had made. "I wasn't looking at you like anything," she said calmly, wiping a blotch of flour off her daughter's cheek. "I believe you."

Kagome was still a bit suspicious but she didn't push, not wanting her mother to think otherwise. Inuyasha wasn't her boyfriend, not exactly. Sure, maybe Kagome _wanted_ something more but even then she couldn't be sure. Was it just because they were having sex all the time that these feelings came? Could two people who had sex as often as they did _not_ get feelings for each other, or was it inevitable and you just had to wait it out?

What if this was not…real?

Kagome started washing off the counter as she contemplated it, her mother putting the dirty dishes in the sink. She could vaguely hear her grandfather shouting at the television in the other room, probably about something the news anchor said yet again.

"So how are Sango and Kikyo?" her mother asked, taking the rag from Kagome's hands to rinse it off. There was far too much butter and sugar and flour on it to be anything remotely useful. Her mother's small hands cleaned while her dark eyes remained focused on the task. Kagome wasn't entirely sure if her mother was being overly devious or just politely curious.

"They're good," Kagome answered, leaning against what was possibly the only spot free of disaster. "Kikyo is enjoying teaching, so much that she's actually considering trying to become a university prof. I can only _imagine_ that. Sango and Miroku are finally dating."

"Oh finally," Midori said, letting out a breathy laugh. "You were right I guess."

"That it was only a matter of time?"

Her mother smiled at her, twisting the cleaned rag so that the water drained out of it. When she handed it over, she got to work on the bowls in the sink. "So who asked who?"

"Miroku, obviously," Kagome murmured, rolling her eyes. "Sango was too terrified and vastly in denial. There's only so much you can do to convince her that being near him wasn't making her crush obvious."

"But I thought you said he'd never…what did you say? It was crude."

Kagome laughed. "Find his balls and ask her, yeah. He only did it because Inuyasha said something and it apparently inspired some kind of inner turmoil only fixed by Sango's love."

"My god, Kagome," Souta said, pushing his way between her and their mother. "Could you sound any more like a romance novel? It's bad enough that I had to walk–"

Lunging at her younger brother wasn't something Kagome often did, but on Christmas Eve, some things were justifiable. As they ran out of the room, screaming and biting each other, Midori just sighed and continued on working. They would eventually come back in to finish cleaning.

 _Inuyasha_ , she thought with a grin, _I haven't heard that name before._

* * *

 _Merry Christmas, Kagome._

 _Merry Christmas to you too, Inuyasha._

* * *

Kagome stared at the message before sighing and sending it. With the few moments she had hidden in her room, her crazy family below diving into the festivities, she couldn't help but write to him. It had been…a while, and that was weird. _We aren't exchanging gifts right?_

 _I thought sex with me was a gift. Get with the program Kagome._

 _Oh right. My bad._ Kagome rolled her eyes. _I hope you noted the sarcasm._

His response came soon after. _What sarcasm?_

That wasn't even worth responding to.

 _Kagome?_

* * *

Inuyasha stared at his cell phone, pointedly ignoring Miroku's horrible babble about something he didn't remotely care about. They were only a few minutes away from the cottage and Inuyasha hoped like hell they passed quickly because there was only so much babble he could take. Four hours' worth was pushing it.

"So we've got me, you, Sango, Kagome, Kikyo, Kirara, Hachi, Hiten and Manten. Jakotsu probably won't be able to but he said he'd try. I told everyone to bring their own booze, but I have a feeling we're going to run out pretty fast."

Inuyasha sighed. "Isn't there a town nearby with a liquor store? I'm sure we could run in one morning."

"It's like a thirty minute drive!" Miroku exclaimed, trying not to pout. "That's absurd."

"More absurd than sobriety?"

The blue-eyed man shut up, clearly seeing the point. It didn't matter anyways, for the road continued to get worse and worse with the twisty turns and the heavily fallen snow. Signs holding last names and witty euphemisms were nearly buried, the white fluff covering every inch of the surrounding area. Cottage Country was foreign to Inuyasha. He'd never been to a place that wasn't his relatively shitty apartment with Miroku or his luxurious home.

"This is it," Miroku murmured, pointing to a sign with the numbers "312", barely discernible with all the snow. There didn't even appear to be a driveway but there were two strips of flattened snow, previously run over by tires. It was long and just as difficult to navigate through, and more than a few times Miroku cursed. Maybe they wouldn't be going back into town after all.

And then the cottage appeared.

"A log cabin," Inuyasha stated. "It's a fucking log cabin. Does no one watch horror movies?"

"There are neighbours you know," Miroku pointed out, grinning. "But maybe Hachi's parents never watched The Cabin in the Woods. You have to admit though: this is a pretty high-class looking log cabin. We're right on the lake."

"All the good horror spots are right on the lake, dumbass." The half-demon rolled his eyes but was the first to get out of the car when Miroku stopped. All of their bags were in the back, and as he waited for his friend to get out of the driver's side he surveyed the yard. There were two other cars there already – Hachi's, most likely, and another vehicle he didn't recognize. Both were somewhat covered in frost, their tire tracks nearly invisible.

"I think that's Manten's car," Miroku suggested, slamming the trunk closed with his bag wrapped around his shoulder and two plastic bags filled with alcohol in each hand. "Great, a sausage fest to start off. Have you texted Sango to see where she is?"

"Nope. You can do that, lover boy, while I pick the best room in the place. If we're going to be murdered by a zombie family, I want the prime location to run." Smirking, Inuyasha made his way up the path just as Hachi was coming towards the door, a beer in hand.

Clearly, the festivities were already underway.

"Ha _ch_ i!" Miroku yelled, sounding more like a frat boy than anything else. He ran up past the half-demon and nearly tackled his friend. "Where are the drinks at?"

"Christ, if you start drinking now you'll be asleep before the girls even get here," Hachi replied, rolling his eyes. "But everything is in the kitchen."

"Tell me you have ice," Miroku yelled over his shoulder, already inside. "Tons and tons of ice."

Hachi stared at Inuyasha, who simply shrugged. "I wasn't the one that dropped him on his head as a child."

"You're giving the parents too much credit," the demon stated. "He ate a lot of dirt as a child. Something probably rooted itself in there."

Snorting, Inuyasha stepped inside the cottage. It was large and rectangular, with lavish furniture that that looked part expensive and part meant-to-come-from-the-woods. There were lanterns and stained glass lamps and ugly material everywhere. It was perfect.

"No one has picked a room yet," Hachi said in a conspiratorial whisper. "I recommend the room on the furthest right. You get a lake view and it's the farthest away from everyone else."

"What, you don't want it for yourself?"

Hachi looked at him like he was crazy. "My room is a loft upstairs. No one is getting near me."

The silver-haired half-demon had barely put his bags down when Miroku burst through, alcohol in hand. It wasn't even beer – some sort of hard liquid that would definitely make him have regrets tomorrow.

"Drink up buddy," Miroku said, already grinning wide. "We do tequila shots next."

The following two hours passed by in a blur of lazy hurriedness to be rid of sobriety. The tequila wasn't particularly a good idea, considering it was just past noon and he'd had little more than a bagel in his stomach. Hiten and Manten were already drunk, eating chips and playing video games poorly. Hachi was in the process of making nachos like the good host he was – although, he too was drunk and the cheese was poorly distributed. Miroku was currently hanging off of Inuyasha, smiling that shit-eating grin with a glass of whiskey and ginger in his hands. "You are my best friend."

"And you are mine," Inuyasha mumbled, lightly slapping Miroku's cheek.

He was drunk. It was inevitable, really.

"Where are the nachos?" the black-haired man yelled, looking into the kitchen. "Hachi? Hachi! Where are you Hachi?"

"Right here," Hachi shouted, oven mitts on his hands. "I'm making you food princess, so shut it."

"And that is why I love you. You are my best friend."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes but grinned. "You need some new material."

"Fuck that," Miroku replied. Suddenly his attention was turned, blue eyes focused on the window in the door. "HEY! That's my girlfriend!"

Sango opened the door then, a massive luggage case in hand and a bottle of vodka in the other. "Hello!"

"I love you, Sango!" Miroku cried, tearing away from Inuyasha and leaping towards his girlfriend. He hugged her, ripping her away from her suitcase which clattered to the floor.

Sango shrieked. "What are you doing? Oh my god, how sloshed are you?" She tried unsuccessfully to make him put her down, but he was rather content burying his face in her jacket-covered chest while keeping her suspended in the air. "Miroku, Jesus Christ, put me down!"

"You started the party without us?"

Inuyasha knew – _he knew_ – that Sango, Kagome and Kikyo were all coming up to the cottage together. Yet, it hadn't prepared him for seeing her again. They hadn't seen each other in almost two weeks – he hadn't had sex _in almost two weeks_ – and spotting Kagome's flushed from the cold face was almost a shock to his system. Sure they had sent a few texts back and forth, but that was pretty tame considering the amount of bodily fluids they normally shared.

Inuyasha blinked. What a strange thought he'd just had. Who the fuck thought about bodily fluids?

"Wow, you are all so drunk," Kikyo stated dryly, unzipping her winter coat. "Miroku is creepy. Hiten and Manten are passed out on the floor and Hachi… Are those nachos?"

The demon grinned and nodded. "In the oven but they'll be done soon."

"Thank god, I haven't eaten all day," Kikyo said, kicking off her boots. "Where can we room?"

"Wherever there aren't any bags. A couple people might have to share–"

"WE VOLUNTEER!" Miroku shouted.

"Obviously." Hachi sighed. "But you can stay anywhere you want."

"My room is down the hall all the way at the end on the right," Inuyasha said. "Just, you know, so you don't take it." He tried extremely hard not to look at Kagome as he said the words. It didn't matter that he was saying it more for her benefit than for anyone else; he couldn't look at her.

They couldn't let anyone know. Well, mostly Sango.

Of course, it meant that he was staring at her because he registered the tiniest of smiles on her lips. Turning around on his heel towards the kitchen, Inuyasha decided to check on the nachos so that he didn't make an utter moron of himself.

"Why is he so weird?" Sango asked, her voice following him even as he disappeared. He could pick up Hachi's irritated sigh and Miroku's laugh, saying that they were just enjoying themselves.

"Can you all start drinking now?" Miroku continued, practically whining. "The world will be a fantastic place when you do."

Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha went straight to the whiskey bottle. If his best friend drank more than he actually did, Inuyasha would be worried. As it stood, Miroku only sounded like an alcoholic when he was smashed. Other people probably had a similar talent, but Inuyasha wasn't friends with a lot of other people.

"Can someone help me with my bags?" Kagome asked suddenly. "I packed the booze so I need more hands to help dig it out."

"I'll help!"

…Was that too obvious? Inuyasha shrugged and made his way over, following the black-haired girl as she went into a room several doors before his. He stared at her ass as she peered inside, humming to herself before entering. The half-demon wasted no time in tackling her to the bed.

"What are you doing?" Kagome hissed, her hands landing on his shoulders. She wasn't pushing him away but Inuyasha hadn't exactly tried anything yet other than the tackle. Looking into her brown eyes, Inuyasha opened his mouth and found that he couldn't answer. "The door is open, for one," Kagome told him, shaking her head. "And for another, we shouldn't shut the door because that's suspicious."

"Not if everyone's drunk," the half-demon pointed out, grinning.

Scrunching up her nose, Kagome huffed out a breath of laughter. "That's true. The only problem is that no one but the men are drunk and it's the women who are more inclined to be suspicious in this circumstance."

"You are a tease."

"I haven't even done anything."

Inuyasha thought that response was ludicrous. "Just your very presence makes me want to jump you. We haven't had sex in weeks." That wasn't all of it, obviously, but even drunk Inuyasha understood that speaking too much might be a bad idea. Now hands were pushing at his shoulders, so Inuyasha crawled off and sat down on the bed. Kagome simply stared at him, an expression on her face that his brain couldn't process. "What?" he asked. "Am I supposed to be doing something?"

"You should check on Miroku and Sango," Kagome suggested, standing up and going to her luggage. "She may have killed him by now."

The half-demon sat there, unmoving. He knew when he was being bullshitted, mostly because his half-brother lived by that sentiment. Kagome wasn't even looking at him, which meant he'd said something that she didn't like. "What did I say?"

"You are very drunk," the brown-eyed woman pointed out, barely sparing him a glance. "You really can't be held accountable for what you say. Prime example: what you just said sounded like it could come from a rapist's mouth because let's face it, that statement was a bit creepy. Not only that but I…" Kagome sighed. "Look, let's just drink and have fun and we'll see what happens."

" _What_?" Inuyasha yelled, stepping towards her. He hadn't even realized he stood up. "The fuck are you talking about?"

"Shh!" Kagome hissed, waving at him to be quieter. "No, Inuyasha, calm down."

"You're calling me a rapist," Inuyasha muttered. "Where the fuck have you been because I'm pretty goddamn _fucking_ sure–"

A hand came over his mouth, muffling his words. He tried his damnedest to keep going but Kagome was standing so close to him that Inuyasha figured it was better to not say anything at all. "Inuyasha," she whispered, "I didn't _call_ you a rapist. I just stated that what you said was creepy. I'm trying to prove that you're drunk and that you might not be in peak condition to have secret sex away from our friends. Unless you want to tell them, then fine, but Sango's screaming in the other room and I'm not sure what we'll have to say is going to go over well."

Taking her hand away from his mouth, Inuyasha stared her down. "And…?"

"And what?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't make me leave the room because I'm drunk – you _knew_ that walking in here. What the hell else is your problem?" He spoke the words softly, hoping that if he looked at her hard enough she'd spill all of her secrets. Maybe then he could figure some of his own shit out, like the fact that this weekend might be more important than the others. When he asked her out – _if_ he asked her out – it would change everything.

Maybe the tequila was a bad idea. Maybe mixing it with the whiskey was bad too.

"I just–" Kagome paused, jaw clenching and then relaxing. She looked like she was trying to sort something out in her head, something that wasn't detangling nearly as fast as she wanted it to. "I thought that maybe–"

"Kagome, for the love of god, what is taking you so long?" Sango asked, bursting into the room. Miroku was right behind her, his chin on her shoulder. It must have made walking a near impossible feat, though Inuyasha was too intent on figuring out Kagome to put much thought into it.

For a second Sango paused, her magenta eyes looking back and forth between the two of them curiously. "Umm…"

"He's very drunk," Kagome said suddenly, giving her friend this look as if it should explain everything. Maybe it did. Inuyasha sure as fuck didn't know. "He wanted me to give him some of my vodka."

"Ew, buddy, come on!" Miroku exclaimed. "You can grovel for a lot of things while drunk, but vodka should never be one of them. Don't you have tons of booze left anyways? There's no way you went through three 26ers."

There was no salvation, Inuyasha realized rather suddenly. Nothing he said would work because it would only make him look bad _or_ he'd contradict Kagome's sorry excuse of…an excuse.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sango asked, pushing away from Miroku with a concerned expression. "How much _have_ you had to drink?"

Only one option then, Inuyasha thought to himself. He walked out of the room and promptly got to work on finishing that first 26er he'd brought.

It was going to be a long, painful night.

* * *

 **Responses to Anon Reviewers:**

ThatGirl: It's the Goldilocks of stories, and that is definitely a compliment. And while you didn't get that answer in this chapter… The next one? Well. Prepare yourself :D Thanks love!

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* * *

 **Yes. The next chapter will be the shitshow you've all been waiting for.**

 **Feedback is love.**


	6. Part VI

**Author's Note:** Thank you so much for all of your wonderful comments. As an apology for the delayed last post, here's another chapter.

 **12 Days of Witchyness: Still taking prompts. Go to** witchygirl99 (add a dot) wordpress (add a dot) com (add a forward slash) 2017/09/09 (add a forward slash) 12-days-of-witchyness **to see what others have already requested! (Add in appropriate dots and forward slashes as stated).**

* * *

 **Pennies and Dimes**

 **Part VI**

* * *

Waking up and _knowing_ that a hangover was going to overcome you was the worst part about morning afters. It was also the worst when memories began to flood back and that one night stand you thought was attractive was really actually very terrifying. Kagome was thankful that she only knew of this due to Kikyo's experience and her big mouth while drinking sugar-laden coffee.

One thing that Kikyo never mentioned, however, was _how_ she woke up. Kagome scrunched her eyes and opened them, confused when everything was blurry in front of her. There was light but the fabric in front of her was a dark blue, almost black. There was…stitching? Turning her head, Kagome felt the scratch of the material as she slightly raised her head.

"Oh god," she whispered, staring directly down at someone's lap. Someone's _crotch_ might be better and _fuck_ she knew that belt buckle.

"Go to bed," Inuyasha grumbled, mostly in his sleep. A clawed hand pressed down on her scalp, making her lie back down and rest on his legs.

Well. This hadn't been expected.

Kagome did her best to ignore the signs of her hangover while she recounted the previous night. Had anything happened? Did anyone find out? A brief glance around the room made her realize that she was lying on the couch, Inuyasha reclining back and acting as her pillow. Why were they on the couch and not in their own bedrooms? Kagome remembered a fair amount of the previous night – the drinking, the drinking games, the running around, the _hot tub_ , and the fact that the entire time she couldn't peel her attention away from Inuyasha. He hadn't approached her again though, not after what happened in the bedroom.

The fact that he jumped her and said stupid things wasn't the issue. It was the fact that all he had missed was the _sex_ and not her.

Admitting that she really liked him was hard, but it was true. Along with occasional mind-blowing sex, she'd gone and got feelings for him too. It didn't matter if other people in her situation felt the same way and it was just _natural_. The fact of the matter was that she cared, a whole lot, and maybe that meant things would change.

Then again, if he didn't feel the same, absolutely _nothing_ would change.

Sighing, Kagome gently pulled his hand away and sat up, taking a moment to assess her situation. She didn't have a headache but she felt the slightest bit woozy. She needed water and a toothbrush, along with whatever medicine she could find.

As she found a glass and filled it with water to take some pills, Kagome determined that it was very likely no one found out about anything. As far as she could remember, Hachi had gone to bed early. Kikyo had disappeared. Hiten and Manten had retired from the hot tub early to play video games and drink some more. Sango and Miroku had been kicked out of the hot tub by her and Inuyasha, for the reason that it was _not cool_ to attempt to have sex in the same small pool of water that your friends were currently in.

"Please tell me you have some medicine for me," Inuyasha grumbled, his sleep-rough voice startling her out of her thoughts.

Kagome nodded and opened the bottle, pouring out a couple pills and handing them over with her unfinished glass of water. "How do you feel?"

"Headache," the half-demon mumbled, wincing before he chugged the last of the water. "It'll go away though. I've definitely suffered far worse. Food would be fantastic though. What time is it?"

"Ten in the morning?" Kagome guessed. "I don't think anyone will be up for a while… Maybe Hachi will."

"He didn't drink as much as the rest of us," Inuyasha agreed. "I vote we either go back to bed or we make food. Pick one."

Kagome raised both brows at him, incredulous. "Definitely bed then." At Inuyasha's wink, she rolled her eyes. "To sleep and sleep only, _this time_. I want to brush my teeth first though, wash my face. I don't even want to look at what my hair looks like."

The half-demon smirked and ruffled her hair, tugging at a strand. "You probably don't."

"Thanks for that." Kagome headed towards her bedroom, letting Inuyasha follow her around the corner to the hallway and down. Her luggage had been unpacked at some point, but mostly scattered on the bed with the alcohol removed. She opened the door and was about to turn on the lights when Inuyasha grabbed her tightly, holding her in place.

"Shh," he hissed quietly in her ear, his lips so close.

Kagome was about to demand what the hell he was doing when her eyes adjusted to the light and she saw lumps on the mattress. Three of them. "Who is in here?" she whispered quietly, trying to pick out faces.

"Just get what you need and let's go," Inuyasha replied. "The room reeks of sex so you might want to consider staying in another bed for the meanwhile."

The idea made her cringe. Kagome tiptoed into the room, quietly opening her luggage and getting her toiletry bag. Just as she was about to stand up, one of the lumps in the mattress moved with a long groan. A bit of shifting later and the person went silent once more, comfortable on their back and breathing deeply.

Kagome looked out of curiosity, only for her eyes to widen and her mouth to open with a yell.

"No," Inuyasha whispered harshly, tugging her out of the room. Shutting the door, Kagome could see that the silver-haired man was trying very hard not to laugh.

"I don't know that person!" Kagome exclaimed, her voice quiet despite the protest. "That's a stranger and he slept with _Kikyo_! He was naked and I could see her shoulders and oh god, I can't _wait_ to hear what the fuck happened last night."

"Jakotsu was there too," Inuyasha pointed out, the grin finally breaking. "I'd bet on a threesome. The guy in there is Suikotsu, some guy in my program. I'm pretty sure he and Jakotsu are friends."

Kagome stared blankly at him. "Friends."

"Kikyo is attractive," Inuyasha stated, shrugging. "And I'm positive Jakotsu isn't picky. I don't personally know Suikotsu's tastes, but if they were all as drunk as I remember Kikyo being, then that might explain a lot."

"I don't even remember them coming in, what the hell!" It was a bit hard to be indignant for your best friend when she was lying naked with two men in _your_ bed, but Kagome knew this wasn't the worst thing she'd ever caught Kikyo a part of. The girl was hardly vanilla.

Inuyasha shrugged and dragged her back into the living room. "Miroku told me that Jakotsu was going to try and make it. Apparently he did. We were outside in the hot tub most of the night with everyone else. It wouldn't have been hard to miss them."

Groaning, Kagome grabbed her toothbrush and ignored the way the half-demon stared at her imploringly. She didn't have the first clue what it was about, but a lot of things about Inuyasha confused her. "I'll be back. You can go to bed if you want and I'll take the couch."

The half-demon actually snorted. "Don't be a moron."

"Really, that's what you say to me," Kagome replied, rolling her eyes. Even with a hangover he had a way with words. "You're making it hard to keep this hidden." For the longest moment, Inuyasha just stared at her with that same strange expression. He opened his mouth and then closed it, and the longer he said nothing the more irritated Kagome got. "For god's sake, _what_?"

It showed in his golden eyes and the muscle that twitched along his throat. His lips thinned out before Inuyasha nearly growled, clearly having made some sort of decision. "I'm starting to care less and less about staying hidden the more time I spend here."

"You miss the sex that much?" she exclaimed.

"Are you fucking _kidding me_?" the half-demon snapped. "It's got nothing to do with that. Jesus Christ, are you blind?"

"You're the one whose first words were 'we haven't had sex in forever!' I didn't exactly get the impression that you cared much about _me_ in that statement!" Kagome retorted, crossing her arms angrily.

"What, you think I'm going to just come out and say that I missed _you_? When all we've ever based this off of was the sex? That's a big fucking leap of faith that you wouldn't run the other way and _that's_ about as high up on the list of things I don't want to explain to Sango as something can get: why Kagome disappeared!"

Kagome took a deep breath, ignoring the way it shook a little. Her toothbrush was clutched so tightly in her hand that she could feel the imprint on her skin. "I wouldn't have minded," she whispered in response, suddenly all too aware of the quiet cottage. "I would never have run. I did miss you."

Crossing his arms, the silver-haired half-demon turned slightly, angling away from her. It didn't stop her from seeing the frown on his face and the way his eyes fell to the floor. "Didn't seem too obvious to me, so…" He shrugged, brushing it all off.

Unable to help herself, Kagome closed the distance between them and grabbed his face, making him look at her. She leaned up to kiss him but stopped herself, biting her lower lip. "I'll be back?" As she trotted along to the bathroom, Inuyasha's incredulous hiss of " _what_?" followed her. Kagome didn't bother to shut the door, turning on the sink and stealing some toothpaste to brush her teeth with.

There was a growl from outside, low and barely heard over the sound of water splashing in the bowl. It wasn't until Inuyasha stepped in a minute later, glaring at her with help from the mirror that she finished up quickly. Inuyasha bursting in with _that_ look normally only meant one thing.

"Give me that," Inuyasha mumbled, stealing the toothpaste and putting it on his own brush that he must have just retrieved. "You are annoying. Honestly. I don't know why I put up with you." Inuyasha shoved his toothbrush into his mouth and glowered at her the whole time.

"So while you finish up with that," Kagome said, trying her hardest to remain casual. "I'm going to bed. I wouldn't take too long if I were you."

The glower only got worse so she ran out, heading towards Inuyasha's bedroom and trying to ignore the way her heart rate sped up. She wouldn't even think about what Inuyasha had said – not fully, not yet. But this wasn't _just_ sex, that much was clear and it felt too good to want to analyze. Stripping off her shirt, she dumped it on the floor inside the door before shutting it, shimmying out of her pants and socks.

Kagome didn't have to wait long – she barely had time to even think about what she was doing – before the door opened and golden eyes appeared. Inuyasha smirked down at her, shutting the door. He walked up to the bed, slow and sure now that he apparently had exactly what he wanted. Kagome winked. "Are you coming here or what?"

"You make it sound like I have another option."

Kagome leaned up to help as the half-demon stripped off his top, showing off his muscles that her fingers touched. She tugged on the belt of his pants, working on removing it while he flicked the button off. His clothes were tossed somewhere to the side but Kagome only had eyes for him. His silver hair tickled her skin as he leaned over, kissing her stomach while his hands danced along her sides. She felt her body prickle with gooseflesh, her skin cold while she burned up inside.

Inuyasha raised his head and smirked at her, crawling forwards so that he was looking down directly at her. "Are you cold?"

"Maybe," Kagome replied, lifting her legs so that they wrapped around his waist, pulling him down on top of her. "Although I'm pretty sure you can fix that."

Humming softly, Inuyasha kissed her and Kagome let her mind wander far away from everything that wasn't her, Inuyasha and the bed beneath them. Her hands touched every part of him that she could grasp, fingers combing through his hair and smoothing over his shoulders. She could feel his hardened length pressing down against her, desperate for friction. Kagome very much wanted to give him his wish, her one hand rubbing along the furry tips of his one ear while the other snuck under his boxers.

"You're trying to kill me," Inuyasha groaned against her lips, which were slick and moist and swollen.

"Not yet," Kagome assured him gently, snapping the elastic band. "Then I wouldn't get my orgasm in and that's hardly fair to me."

"Shut _up_." Inuyasha kissed her again, his hand pushing at her bra until he got underneath, teasing the nipple with brisk brushes. Kagome could feel the bites along her jaw, could feel the way she grabbed at him harder, wound her legs around him tighter. Circling her hips up and down the outline of his boxer-clad dick, it took no time for Inuyasha to sit up panting, his pupils blown. "You are way too overdressed," he commented, tugging her up so that he could unhook her bra and throw it somewhere behind him. Faintly Kagome noticed it hit something, the clatter a little louder than it should have been but she was beyond caring. Her hands fumbled to gain ground in the war of clothes, pushing hard until Inuyasha finally moved enough for him to take off his boxers. The silver-haired half-demon then slid to his bag, pulling out a condom and wasting virtually no time in putting it on.

"I was hoping for a lot of foreplay," Inuyasha remarked casually, climbing back onto the bed and dragging her body closer. With her legs once again wrapped tight around him, Kagome tried not to moan at the feeling of his cock pressed against her entrance, the only barrier being her rather flimsy excuse for underwear. Digging in her heels, Kagome grinded down on top of him, her mind a haze of wanting nothing more than for him to bury himself inside of her, to feel the slick friction and the push pull of desperate thrusts.

"Fuck me already, please," she whimpered, wiggling as if it would magically remove her panties.

Inuyasha buried his face in her neck, doing little more than breathing deeply. His one arm was tight around her, holding her impossibly close while the other slid down her body. "You're going to have to let go of me so I can take these off."

"Or you can just shred them and I'll buy another pair next week," Kagome reasoned, thinking that the whole idea was rather a good one. With the way Inuyasha bit into her neck, his moan muffled by skin, she knew she was right.

His fingers slid along hipbones, lifting the fabric from her body before the sounds of tearing reached her ears. Kagome refused to be saddened by the loss, knowing that it was well-worth it if things could just _get on_ already. Inuyasha pulled away from her, his face still so close that their noses were touching. "Kagome," he whispered.

She opened her mouth to say something – _something_ – but everything was lost the second she felt the fabric slip away and his shaft entering quickly inside of her, burying deep and deeper until all Kagome could form were incoherent sounds. She tried to keep her eyes open, to see the way she affected him. Inuyasha's gold eyes were nearly black with lust, his mouth parted and spit-slick and he looked for all intents and purposes like the perfect wet dream. Involuntarily she closed her eyes at the first thrust, biting her lip hard to simply not make a sound. The half-demon was barely moving inside of her, his body pressed so tightly to hers there was absolutely nothing in between.

Every thrust pushed deeper inside, his hips circling in time with hers as she cradled him closer, begging for more with words that didn't form. His one hand left her side to grab her leg, hiking it up higher and tighter to his body for a better angle. Kagome arched along the bed, desperately wanting to move faster, to slam herself up and down his cock and forget the consequences. She wanted to feel this way forever, with the warm heat of Inuyasha completely wrapped around her with absolutely nothing in between, nothing separating them.

"I need more," she whispered in his ear, bringing her hands up to his face to kiss him, to search his mouth and ensure that the only thing he could think about was her and her alone. Fingers tugged at the silver strands, dancing along to the top of his head until she could feel the soft fuzz of hair on his little white ears. Teasing her fingers along the edges, Kagome rubbed along the seam until Inuyasha broke off the kiss to groan into her cheek, his whole body rumbling with pleasure. She'd never tried this before, had never really thought of it, but Inuyasha's hands were frantic on her now, gripping tighter and pulling closer. It was the only encouragement she needed so she continued her assault, focusing all of her attention on his ears while Inuyasha lifted his hips up and then slammed them back down, rocking her into the mattress. It creaked, horribly loud, but Kagome could only hear her laboured breathing, could only feel the way his cock pushed and pulled inside of her until she couldn't hold back anymore, muscles coiling and eyes fluttering until she came.

Her scream was swallowed by Inuyasha's lips, which were frantic and messy. He twisted in her gasp, trying to get away from one side and closer to the other. The half-demon didn't seem to know what to do, too much getting the best of him while he couldn't pull himself away, could only let the pleasure take him higher. Her hips in his hands, Inuyasha pounded into her like he'd die without it, his entire body wracking with desperation and need. His climax hit like a freight train and Kagome was practically shoved up the bed as Inuyasha tried to bury himself inside of her, his head nuzzling into her neck while he shook from his orgasm.

All she could hear was his panting, her hands idly playing on the tips of his ears now. The half-demon's body was like a deadweight on top of her, covering every inch of her body except for her face, holding her down and refusing to let her go.

Kagome knew that she didn't want him to. She knew that she'd happily stay like this forever.

"Inuyasha," she murmured, running her fingers through his hair and brushing it away from his face. "I… I lo–"

And then the door opened and a very high-pitched, feminine scream rang out, stopping absolutely everything, including but not limited to the world spinning.

* * *

Inuyasha could think of worse positions to be caught in. Surely, he could.

Then again, he really fucking couldn't.

He hadn't heard the footsteps leading to the door, too focused on Kagome's soft body beneath him and her hands lightly tracing his ears. He'd been dumb, obviously, because the door didn't have a lock and he should've known it was all going to blow up like this.

When the door had opened and the scream rang out, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and _rolled_ , making them tumble off of the bed and onto the floor. They were lucky that the sheets were already mostly down there, tossed around from their affair on the mattress. It didn't help, but the bed blocked the view to the hallway outside as yelling joined in with the screaming.

"What the _hell_ is going on?" Sango shrieked, her voice far too high to be normal. "Why… Jesus, why are you naked, the two of you? Oh my god, oh my god, _oh my god_ …"

Wrapping whatever sheet he could find around his waist, Inuyasha stood up and glared daggers at his best friend. "Would you kindly _get out_?" he demanded. He shuffled forwards and to the side, stepping in front of Kagome when he could see that not only was Sango there, but Miroku, Hiten and Hachi were too.

"I don't–" Sango blinked, her magenta eyes clearly focusing on Kagome, or what little of her that she could see. "Kagome, are you kidding me?"

"What's going on?" Kikyo yelled from outside of the room, pushing in and inadvertently bringing Miroku in with her. The bedroom was getting far too crowded in Inuyasha's opinion. He searched to try and find his clothes, but twitched at the sight of Sango stepping on his shirt while Kikyo stood on Kagome's pants.

The shit storm was definitely going to hit.

"Kagome and Inuyasha are _naked_!" Sango exclaimed, answering Kikyo's question. She looked confused and a little shocked, but her gaze changed the moment she spotted her other roommate and the state that she was in. "And what happened to you?"

"Don't ask," Jakotsu said from somewhere in the hallway.

"They had a threesome, for fuck's sake," Inuyasha snapped. "So if you're going to freak out, do it on them and do it _outside of this damn room_. Now get out!"

Kikyo rolled her eyes and tried to fix her hair, smoothing it with her fingers. "No one is shocked by my threesome," she stated blandly. "It's certainly not my first."

Sango nodded, shrugging her shoulders.

Miroku choked a little on air.

"Is something interesting happening or are we just gathering for fun?" Hiten asked suddenly, peeking his head inside and then laughing out loud.

"I will kill you," Inuyasha threatened, growling the words. "Why is everyone just _standing here_? It's not a fucking party."

"You're right," Miroku snickered, "we clearly missed it already."

"This isn't funny!" Sango exclaimed, still looking horrified. "Kagome, you can't be serious!"

Inuyasha turned his head when he felt the sheet around his waist tug. Kagome had gathered the other end, or just some part in the middle that she'd wrapped around her body. Her arms were protectively crossed over herself, face completely red, and Inuyasha was actually going to murder all of them.

"What is the big deal?" Kagome snapped. "So what? We're having sex."

"The big deal?" Sango rubbed at her face impatiently, eyes wide with a lack of comprehension. "I told you he's been sleeping around, so the first thing you do when you get here is jump into bed with him?"

"It wasn't actually the first thing–" Inuyasha started to say, getting interrupted when Miroku gasped.

"You said _having_ sex, not _had_. It's you." Miroku's blue eyes switched between them over and over until a grin spread over his face. "You're that chick he's banging!"

"But she likes Hojo, or something!" Sango wailed, turning to Kikyo. "Does this not creep you out?"

Kikyo stared at Sango like she'd grown a head. "Are you kidding me? I don't know him, first of all, all that well. Secondly, Kagome's had him in the house more times than I can count and has come home with sex hair almost constantly. I knew they were fucking like rabbits. Shit happens. It's fun to have sex all the time."

"You knew?" Sango asked, whirling on Kagome. "You told her and not me?"

"No!" Kagome yelled, clutching the sheets tighter. "I never told her– Oh, I'm going to _murder him_."

"Her brother and I have an understanding," Kikyo responded, still looking at Sango. "He caught them in the morning when Inuyasha stayed over."

"You stayed over?" Miroku asked, looking awed. Inuyasha knew for a fact that Miroku had had a pretty serious goal of having the same luck with Sango, to no avail as of yet.

Kikyo nodded. "Constantly. I'm just thankful that they have sex quietly."

For a long moment, no one spoke. Inuyasha couldn't see into the hallway, but he could tell that nobody was loitering around. Hachi and Hiten had obviously left, but Inuyasha was far more focused on the fact that the rest of them still hadn't. "Can you fuck off now?" he asked, glaring.

Crossing her arms, Sango tried to hold on to her defiant anger. "Why didn't you tell me? You guys are my best friends."

"We literally hated each other the first time we had sex," Kagome stated, sighing. "It wasn't exactly supposed to happen again."

"But it did," Inuyasha continued. "In a closet."

"Oh my _god_ ," Miroku wailed. "Why are they _not_ a couple and yet have sex in all the best places?" He paused, frowning at his words. "Wait, are you guys actually together? You are, right?"

The second silence in the room was a hell of a lot more tense than the first. Inuyasha was about ready to climb the walls. He would have if he had more than a shared sheet protecting his best friends from overexposure. "You should go," Inuyasha pointed out, not for the first time. Clutching the sheet in his hand, he flicked a finger at the door and tried to look as impatient as possible.

"This isn't over," Sango stated seriously, eyeing the both of them before exiting. When Miroku didn't immediately follow, her indignant shout had him running. Kikyo stood there in front of them, the sole person left in the room. She was smiling.

Kagome sighed. "I'm surprised you didn't tell her sooner."

Her friend shrugged, brown eyes dancing. "Where's the fun in that? Look, I'm happy for the both of you, but you've got to get your shit together. Sango is going to interrogate you over breakfast, I know it."

Growling, Inuyasha rolled his head, letting the muscles of his neck stretch as if to alleviate some weight. "You mean if I don't kill her first."

"Exactly," Kikyo replied. She headed towards the door, hand on the knob before she winked at them. "Oh and take as long as you need. The mystery of it all will drive her nuts."

When the door shut with a loud click, neither of the two moved.

"So…" Inuyasha started, looking at the spot where Kikyo had once been. "That probably could've gone better."

Kagome nodded, the movement caught in his peripheral vision. "I'd imagine so."

"But how would we tell her, right? We discussed it before. It was never going to end well." Rationalization seemed to be the only way he could process the situation. "And while I would've preferred the entire cottage to not have been involved, overall no one died."

"Bonus," Kagome added.

"Right, bonus."

"And it's sex."

"Yep, just sex." Kagome dropped the sheet that was covering her body, moving her hands to hide her face. "Who the hell are we kidding? This is _awful_."

Inuyasha _felt_ awful, even though the vast majority of this wasn't his fault. Awkwardly he stepped closer to her, wondering if he should do something. A hug? A kiss? She was pretty much standing there completely naked and almost crying. What. The Serious. Fuck. In the end he hugged her, pressing up against her so that the sheet wrapped around his lower half didn't fall down too. He rubbed her back and glared at the doorway, as if it would make things better. "At least now we don't have to hide it," he murmured.

Kagome laughed in his arms, stepping away so that she could pick up her clothing. Between the sheet falling down on him because she was no longer holding it up _and_ her tossing him his t-shirt, Inuyasha was basically standing naked too. Somehow because of everything that just happened, it was really awkward.

"What are we going to say?" Kagome asked suddenly, looking at him while she hooked her bra back on. "Sango is going to ask for details but probably nothing that'll make her want to rip off her ears."

"That's what Miroku will be for," Inuyasha replied, thinking it over. "I don't know, I'll follow your lead but right now? Fuck them."

"That's all you have to say?" Kagome asked, incredulous.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "She's the one that's making this a big deal for no goddamn reason! She's the one flailing her arms and making faces because she can't handle two of her friends having fantastic sex. I'd bet she's just jealous. Miroku is probably a really shitty lay."

Snorting, Kagome finished putting on her pants and headed towards the door, leaning on it while she waited. Inuyasha couldn't help but see that while her face was red and her arms were wrapped tightly around herself, she never looked more…well, _nice_. Beautiful.

Inuyasha cringed.

"It won't be that bad," Kagome tried to soothe, mistaking his facial expression for something else. "I'll do most of the talking and you can do most of the acting."

The half-demon smirked at that. "Oh, so we're going to give them a performance of our first time again? We'll need to borrow the couch–"

"Don't be _gross_ ," she whined. "There are people I don't particularly know well here."

"So no couch sex?" he pouted.

Kagome sighed, defeated, and opened the door. "Not until we get back to school. I'm pretty sure there's going to be a day when both Kikyo and Sango are out of the house. We can rehash that lovely first strange sexual encounter then."

"I love strange sexual encounters," he quipped.

Kagome nearly smashed his nose in when she slammed the door in his face, but he saw just moments before the wood came what was on her face.

Inuyasha smirked, pleased at making her smile again.

* * *

Her best friend was a masochist, was what Kagome had concluded within the first fifteen minutes of spending time with everyone in the kitchen.

"So, what, you just decided to have sex?" Sango asked around a mouthful of pancakes.

Miroku choked. He wasn't doing so well in the conversation thus far.

"We didn't just have sex," Kagome answered, growing tired of this already. "It happened and then it happened again. I'm not sure how else to explain it."

"So, what, you accidentally fell on his dick?" Kikyo asked, mostly just to be annoying than anything else. She was smiling, clearly amused by the entire situation.

Kagome was not amused _at all_.

"You guys are blowing this out of proportion," Inuyasha muttered, pushing back his chair to get more food. "Can't we change topics?"

"Yes, _please_ ," Hiten begged, rolling his eyes. "This is getting really old really fast."

"Like, maybe what we plan on doing today?" Jakotsu suggested, looking around the table. "And we need to come up with more than just drinking."

"Well, there goes anything I could suggest," Miroku murmured around a mouthful of waffles. "We could go outside and skate."

"Without skates, of course, unless any of you brought some up," Hachi added, looking around.

Manten flicked some sort of napkin at Hiten, grinning. "All I need is to beat the shit out of you with snowballs."

"Well there's certainly enough snow."

Sango sighed, sounding put upon. "You two haven't ruined snow as well by having sex in it, right?"

" _Oh my god!_ " Jakotsu yelled, glaring at Sango. "You need to go have a time out in the snow. Go!"

"What?"

Miroku tugged on Sango's ponytail, dragging her from the chair until she was screeching with protest. "It'll be fun," he promised, waggling his eyebrows and bringing her to the closet where all of their coats were. He threw her coat at her, followed shortly by her hat, scarf and gloves. "An hour of prancing in the snow is sure to bolster your mood."

Sango was grumbling but she put everything on anyways, sliding on her boots without completely falling on her face. "You're all coming out, right?"

"Sweetie, I've been out for a long time," Jakotsu muttered under his breath.

"Let's go!" Manten yelled, bowling over his brother to drag them both to the doorway for their boots.

Hachi looked very close to twitching, or that's what Kagome thought. She watched as everyone slowly but surely started to rise, putting their plates in the kitchen before getting their things from the closet. She was about to follow when suddenly Inuyasha was there, pushing her back down to remain seated.

"You don't want to go out with them?" Kagome asked, raising a brow while the half-demon twisted the seat beside her to sit in it. "If Sango was having a nervous breakdown before…"

"We'll go out," Inuyasha replied, interrupting her. "I was suggesting that you take a couple minutes without Sango hounding you. I promise you it's not going to stop just because you're outside."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Well obviously, it's _Sango_ ," she said. "She never lets go of anything."

"Hence the reason Miroku is horny twenty-four-seven." Inuyasha smirked at her, reaching out with his hand to ruffle her hair. "She's not pissing you off too much, right? Because I can talk to her."

"Ooh, look at the big scary man trying to protect my virtue," Kagome cooed, laughing. "What are you going to do? Sango will tear you apart worse, surely. It's your dick that she has a problem with."

"Only because _you're_ the one riding it."

Kagome nearly choked on air. "Oh my god, if only she could listen to us now."

"She'd be ripping her ears off," Inuyasha replied, chuckling.

Watching the half-demon look so amused, Kagome couldn't help but smile. She relaxed back in the stiff chair, letting the silence of the cottage settle now that everyone was outside. Things between them were…good. They weren't just after each other for sex, it was obviously for something more. It made her feel _better_ , like everything was falling into place.

Of course, that sounded like the corniest Hallmark card ever.

"We should head outside," Kagome said finally. The loud crashing sound against the door had her whipping her head around, seeing a squished Miroku and Sango staring through the glass, clearly telling them to come out. "Preferably before they go insane." Inuyasha's smirk was smugly in place. Kagome narrowed her eyes at him for only a moment because clearly he wasn't so pleased by her statement. There was something else. "What?"

The half-demon leaned over to kiss her forehead, ruffling her hair before heading towards the closet.

There was a distinct screaming from outside.

"You did that on purpose," Kagome whispered, mostly out of awe. "Are you trying to see how far we can push it?"

The closet was positioned away from the door, hiding Inuyasha from Miroku and Sango's view. He could clearly hear her, even with her whispers. "Well obviously. It's funny, isn't it?"

"You son of a bitch," she muttered, trying very hard not to laugh.

"I'm devious and you're just jealous."

Kagome would hardly admit this to herself, but…maybe a little.

* * *

 **Responses to Anon Reviewers:**

Wolfsmaid: Thank you so much love! Hope this chapter was everything you were waiting for :D

ThatGirl: Aw! Best of luck in your homework, love! I don't envy you although I have to say that sometimes I miss school. Not the homework aspect – that part sucked balls – but school was such a simple time in comparison to the crapshow that is me adulting now. And trust me. It's a crapshow XD

Guest: Why thank you! That's so sweet of your to say! Hope you enjoyed the update!

Mal: I hope this chapter explained things a little more. In hindsight, it was not the best spot to end the last chapter. I can't remember how I posted this originally which would have been super useful! Thanks anyways dear. It's always so lovely to hear from you!

Kikk: Thank you dear! I'm so glad you love this little story of mine :)

* * *

 **Feedback is love.**


	7. Part VII

**Author's Note:** This week was completely insane so it was either post a new chapter before I go away on vacation for a week, or respond to all of you.

I figured you'd rather I updated. I'll respond to everything upon my return!

* * *

 **Pennies and Dimes**

 **Part VII**

* * *

Inuyasha possibly saw this as the greatest opportunity ever. Miroku and Sango were his best friends, but truly, this was the best payback imaginable. All of those times that the two of them were mushy and making gaga eyes at each other, this would give them a taste of their own medicine.

It was just a matter of getting Kagome on board.

So far the days at the cottage were going by with little trouble. Sango still glared at him occasionally, but more often than not she ignored the fact that he and Kagome shared a bed at night. It wasn't _enough_ though. So when they were outside once more, playing in the snow completely wasted on far too much alcohol, Inuyasha didn't stop himself from jumping on Kagome and tackling her into the snow.

"You are _drunk_ ," Kagome said, giggling despite the snow that fell into her eyes. She squirmed a little beneath him, sighing when she realized she was trapped. "Let me up!"

"Not a chance," Inuyasha murmured. His golden eyes stared at her lips, unable to help himself. "You know, this would be a lot more fun if you weren't wearing anything."

"Can you two not have sex right here? I can _hear_ you, you know!" Hachi complained, looking for all the world like he didn't want to be there. "Every demon in the vicinity can."

"Amen!" Hiten yelled.

"It's sickening," Manten added.

"I personally think it would be fun," Kikyo stated in that casual way she always did. "It would be like porn, only greater because we can join in if we want."

There was utter silence until Jakotsu screamed. "OH MY GOD SUIKOTSU, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO KIKYO?"

The very large dumping of snow on Inuyasha's back was probably the greatest mood killer there ever was.

* * *

"I know it's hard, but we are not having sex." Kagome was desperately trying to keep a firm grasp on her resolve. It was very, very difficult when Inuyasha was shamelessly grinding up against her in the very same closet where everyone's coats were. It was also very difficult because she was drunk, horny and trying not to be too loud because for some reason, the entire house was playing Hide and Seek: The Drunken Version.

"Why _not_?" Inuyasha whined quietly. He was pressing up behind her, arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Kagome had no idea how they even _got_ into this position. At first they were standing apart…then together…then they were on the floor…

Now she was in his lap?

Yes. Right.

Oh god, oh god, his hands were wandering up her shirt. That was _not_ fair. "We can't have sex," Kagome murmured, but even to her own ears it sounded weak. "They're going to find us eventually and I don't want them to see us!"

"We really need to make you more of a voyeur," Inuyasha practically purred.

Kagome tried not to melt when his hand skimmed just underneath her bra, teasing along the edges. They weren't going to have sex. She was going to stop this. She was going to stop this.

His hand slipped under her bra and all of her good intentions flew away with the non-existent wind. Biting her lip to stifle her groan, Kagome's head fell back to lean against his shoulder. "That's so much better," the half-demon behind her mumbled, nipping at the back of her neck. "Although, I would so much rather doing this horizontally."

"Mm." It wasn't the most intelligent answer, but Inuyasha was sucking a bruise into her neck and she was helpless to stop it. Kagome knew she should, obviously. Of course, if her hips stopped grinding down into his lap, it would be a lot easier.

And then his hands grabbed at the button of her jeans. "Horizontal," she muttered, breathless. "Horizontal." She could practically feel the smirk against her skin. It probably should've been the first sign that things were going far too fast. The fact that Inuyasha was twisting them both around so that she could lie down on top of boots and discarded hats and gloves. There were coats about them swishing with every move they made.

It was probably loud. People probably heard them.

But oh god, his mouth was on top of hers and Kagome really just wanted to let the drunken _rightness_ to this all sink in. She loved him and it was so much _easier_ like this, hidden and not-so quiet despite their best intentions. No one had to know just yet, even though everyone did.

Was she making any sense? Kagome stared up at the coats while Inuyasha started to lightly nip at every exposed inch of her stomach. She probably wasn't.

"Shit," Inuyasha hissed, and it startled her instantly because it wasn't a _horny_ 'shit' but rather a _freaked the fuck out_ 'shit'.

…That sentence sounded strange.

Suddenly the half demon was lying completely on top of her, tugging at her shirt fruitlessly down to cover her while the doors to the closet opened. Kikyo and Kirara stood there, grinning.

"Kirara?" Kagome asked, looking up at the blonde woman stupidly. "When did you get here?"

"About an hour ago," she responded, eyes dancing. "But you were having too much fun finding a hiding spot to notice."

"Need more time?" Kikyo asked, looking so pleased with herself that she caught them two of them with their pants down. Figuratively, of course. Not literally. Not quite yet.

"Nope, we don't!" Kagome announced the exact same time Inuyasha stated, "please."

* * *

It sucked that his friend with benefits was being more of a friend right now.

Frankly, Inuyasha could've cared less. It was his dick that was complaining. Loudly.

"Our friends are _right here_ ," Kagome whispered harshly, directly in his ear. "We are trying to watch a _movie_ , damn it."

"It's okay," Suikotsu murmured. "I'm sure no one will mind if you two leave us to have sex."

"I do!" Sango yelled, startling Miroku from the nap he had been having for the past twenty minutes. "Why the hell would you two rather have sex than spend time with us?"

Inuyasha was reaching the very end of his limits. "Sango, it's not personal but I really, really want to–"

"What are you saying?!" Kagome screeched, jumping a mile high off the couch. "No, you go over there in the corner."

Inuyasha simply stared at her in shock. "What?"

"I feel like I just missed something," Miroku mumbled sleepily. "What time is it even?"

"Two in the morning," Hachi replied, grumpily. He was glaring at everyone, probably for existing. The longer everyone was at his cottage, the more he seemed to want to lock them all outside in the cold. "Everyone should just go to bed."

"Yes, _please_ ," Inuyasha begged.

Kagome was looking at him with horror but when everyone started to head into their own rooms, she followed. Inuyasha started to strip the second the door shut, mostly because he wanted to see exactly how incredulous her face would become. "What was that about?" she hissed, crossing her arms and pointedly not undressing.

"We haven't _actually_ had sex in forever," Inuyasha started.

"Four days."

"In _four days_." It was worse than he thought. "And you're right here, always, and it's driving me up the wall. I want you naked _always_."

Kagome just stared at him. For the first time, her expression was rather blank. "I'm not sure if that's creepy or if that's you attempting to be romantic."

"Romantic?" Inuyasha smirked, taking his boxers off and raising a brow. "Trust me, if I was being romantic, you would know it."

"I would, would I?" Kagome rolled her eyes. "I guess this is why we're–" She stopped herself, brown eyes growing almost comically large. Inuyasha didn't have a clue what she was about to say, but he wanted to know. It was almost cruel that she continued on. "You're distracting when you're completely naked."

"I know," he replied, a little too proud and then… Right. This was a _diversion_. "No, no, what were you going to say?"

"Say?" Kagome looked rather innocent, staring at him with those large eyes. She started to strip slowly, seductively. It was _not fair_. "Say what?"

"You said, and I quote, 'I guess this is why we're…'" Inuyasha blinked a little hazily when she started to take off her pants, shimmying a little to wiggle them over her hips. She even turned a little so that he could stare at her ass. He loved her ass. _Distraction_. "You never finished that sentence."

"I don't remember." Kagome smiled at him and started her approach, wrapping her arms around his neck. "So, bedtime? Maybe we can have a _little_ bit of fun now that we're behind closed doors."

"Fun?" Inuyasha was almost angry that his dick was so quick to respond to that. "What kind of fun?"

"Hmm…" Kagome's smile turned wicked. It only got worse when she dropped to her knees.

" _Jesus fuck_ ," he whispered, staring up at the ceiling because holy shit, this woman was good. She was going to be the death of him.

In the end, Inuyasha never found out what Kagome was talking about. He was far too brain dead after the _Best Blowjob Ever_ to really consider it.

Kagome did things like that to him. Somehow, he didn't mind one bit.

* * *

Sango and Kikyo were seconds away from being thrown out of the car. Kagome was sure of it because they were being annoying bitches about the whole thing.

"I couldn't really get a good look," Kikyo stated in that casual way she always did. "I mean, there was a sheet wrapped around him but he's definitely larger than average. He has to be."

Sango sighed. "That's a mental image I really didn't want. Kagome, can you just answer her so I don't have to jump into a vat of acid to rid myself of all this?"

"I am _not_ discussing how big he is!" Kagome yelled, practically crying. She really didn't want to be driving at this moment. It gave her too much temptation to go off-roading and hopefully crash into a tree.

"AH HA!" Kikyo yelled, throwing her hands up in the air like it was a party. "So he is _big_!"

"Oh my god!" Kagome yelled. "Shut up!"

" _OH MY GOD, MY EARS!_ " Sango screamed, doing something loud and probably dangerous in the back. She was the only one back there so it was possible she was attempting to tie the free seatbelt around her neck like a noose. Was it possible to kill yourself that way? Probably if Kagome hit a tree it would work.

"But, let's get serious here," Kikyo said a second later, pointedly ignoring Sango's wails in the back. "Did you see the way he looks at you? It's delicious. Almost like a mixture of eating you up and wishing to savour you always."

Kagome twitched.

Sango cried out that she'd never be able to eat again.

"No, honestly," Kikyo said, cutting through all of the crap. "Listen to me. He's _into you_ , Kagome. You guys are dating, right? Like, you weren't before but now you are?"

"We're not dating." Kagome's grip on the steering wheel tightened fractionally. "It's still the same as it was." _But it's not_. They said things. It wasn't just about the sex, even though the sex was amazing.

"That's bull and you know it," Kikyo replied, glaring at her friend. "Tell me honestly: do you like him?"

"Clearly," Kagome replied, ignoring Sango's fake vomiting sounds. "I wouldn't be having sex with him all the time if I didn't."

Kikyo rolled her dark eyes. "No, do you _like_ him? Do you want to be more than this… _whatever_ you are?"

That was the harder question. Kagome shrugged, not really planning on answering. Kikyo stared at her roommate shrewdly, not buying it but realizing this was probably not the time. "It'll be better when we get back into routine," she said finally. "School always brings routine and that's always the best thing, I think. It might even be fun," Kikyo suggested. "Sango might actually bring Miroku to the house to have sex for once."

"Why would you drag me into this?" Sango asked. "Guys, come on!"

"I think it would be awesome!" Kikyo turned her head to grin at her friend in the back seat. "Imagine: a competition between the three of us for which of our men can make us scream the loudest. Inuyasha versus Miroku versus Suikotsu-slash-Jakotsu."

Sango might actually have been attempting to hang herself sideways.

"I think it's not fair that you get two men," Kagome replied bluntly.

"I think it's not fair you won't tell me how big of a dick your not-really-boyfriend has," Kikyo replied casually. "But that's life. It's shitty and never fair."

Sango's choking noises eventually ceased.

* * *

"Let me get this straight," Miroku started, glaring at Inuyasha. "You've had sex on a desk, in several closets, in a stairway, in her bedroom, in your bedroom, in our living room _and_ our kitchen. You've had sex in her bathroom–"

"Why–"

"It still counts," Miroku cut in. "And you had sex in the shower, on various floors and other flat surfaces and…" Now he was practically sobbing. "Practically everywhere."

"Why are we discussing this?" Inuyasha finally asked, rolling his eyes. "I don't want to talk to you about this."

Miroku wiped a fake tear away. "My boy is all grown up."

"Jesus fucking Christ."

* * *

School did create a routine and Kagome was entirely grateful for it. She thrived on routine, mostly because it allowed her to book and plan and schedule everything. She was working more than usual to make up for her holiday break, but Kagome didn't mind talking guys off. It wasn't like she had a ton of homework right off the bat. The first two weeks were always the easiest.

 _Can I come over?_

"Oh, _yes_ , fuck me _please_ ," Kagome whispered, breath coming out hot and trembling while she fumbled with her cell phone. _I work until five. Come around 5:15? Dinner?_

"Take it, take it, take it," the man on the other end groaned.

Kagome rolled her eyes and stared at the ceiling, wishing five o'clock could just finish already. "Give it all to me, baby. Come on, _come on_ , fuck me harder."

At least when Inuyasha got there, she could have some fun. It would be nice to actually say "fuck me harder" and to actually then be fucked harder. It was the little things that mattered.

Not love though, nope not that. Kagome knew exactly what her thoughts were during the few days at the cottage. It was dumb to think that she _loved_ Inuyasha because that wasn't possible. It wasn't. No matter what Kikyo pressed her to say, she and Inuyasha weren't an item. They were…whatever they were. More than friends with benefits but not quite boyfriend and girlfriend.

It was the little things that mattered, but fuck it if Kagome knew what the little things were.

* * *

Inuyasha smirked at his cell phone. Five-fifteen, really? It was ten minutes to five and he was already at her house, staring at her window. It seemed a little creepy but he wasn't sure what to do. Should he scale the wall and hope that she let him in when he knocked on her window, or would it be better to just go through the front door? Sango and Kikyo knew the secret now, so it wasn't much of a secret. It should be less of a problem.

Also, if he went through the front door, Kagome couldn't be so mad that he was early.

If Inuyasha had to think about it, he wasn't entirely comfortable with the reason he was early. The texting had been fine, but the moment Kagome mentioned that she was _working_ … It sort of spiraled from there. It's not like he was stupid. He knew exactly what she did. Who the hell was he to say no? It's not like she _actually_ had sex with them. She wasn't a stripper or prostitute.

She was a phone sex operator.

Inuyasha was still quite conflicted.

Knocking on the door, Inuyasha shoved his hands in his jean pockets and waited. His ears twitched at the sound of someone approaching – someone who was definitely not Kagome, probably not Sango. Kikyo looked surprised for all of two seconds before she schooled her features, a smug smile marring her expression.

"I knew it," she stated, rather pleased for unknown reasons. "Kagome's in her room upstairs. Have fun, Romeo."

It would be kind of crass to respond as smugly as she spoke to him, but he couldn't help the coy "thanks" that left his lips. He was just approaching the stairs when an intake of breath stopped him, Sango's big gaze focused on him.

"Why are you here?" Sango asked, partially whining. She buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry. I know this is getting old but it's really weird to realize that my one best friend is fucking my other best friend."

"You'll get used to it," Kikyo murmured consolingly, patting her roommate on the shoulder. "Just make sure you're quiet Inuyasha and she won't have a heart attack."

"Kikyo!"

Inuyasha held back a laugh as he raced upstairs, going directly to Kagome's door and opening it without knocking. Knocking would only give her a reason not to open up and he knew for a fact it would be unlocked. Kagome's horrified expression was almost on par with Sango's from earlier.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed, hands grabbing at the headset. She looked pretty angry with him but Inuyasha let the smirk slide into place, his body advancing towards her on the bed. "I'm working!" she pointed out, rather unnecessarily.

"I've come to see you," he explained dumbly. The sound of the headset beeping had him tense fractionally before relaxing, trying not to be too pleased with Kagome's unhappy look. For some reason all of this was a joke. He was doing this to test boundaries and break limits. So far they hadn't had very many. This was one bound to crumble eventually.

"I have to take this," Kagome whispered. Her brown eyes were looking away at the now closed door, lips a tight line.

Maybe he had overstepped too far. When Inuyasha tilted her head to look at him, he saw a sort of fear in the brown depths. What was she scared of? Him freaking out? Inuyasha thought it _was_ a distinct possibility, but he was a big boy. This job was a big deal for her because it was so flexible. Ruining it would destroy whatever the thing between them was. Instead of offering to leave like any sane person would, Inuyasha smirked and started to unbutton her blouse. "Sure, go and take it."

"What?" Kagome asked, looking startled.

His new plan in place, Inuyasha pushed away the offending piece of clothing and snapped off her bra, far too pleased at the flush that now stained her cheeks. "Aren't you going to answer it? I thought that was your job?"

Kagome pressed the headset and spoke some rather brisk words into the mouthpiece. Inuyasha paid absolutely no attention to it, focusing on sucking a bruise into her neck that people would be able to see for _days_ , no matter what shirt she wore. It pleased him considerably when Kagome's voice sounded breathier than normal, some spiel about Yura falling from her mouth. Inuyasha let his hands roam the familiar territory of her body, claws soothing down her sides only for his teeth to nip at her collarbone. Kagome was only talking at this point about…about some sort of crime? Her voice sounded huskier even to his own ears and Inuyasha continued his focused attack on the upper half of her body.

It was clear the conversation had started to turn sexual, so Inuyasha smirked at Kagome before licking at her exposed nipple, watching the nub shrink at the cool air. His left hand toyed with the breast while his mouth encircled the other, sucking hard with just a hint of teeth. Kagome's moan was not at all fake and despite what the conversation could be about, everything she was doing was for _him_. Her hips were canting upwards, desperate for friction. Inuyasha wanted so badly to press down on her, to get some friction on his straining dick that wanted a shitload of attention right the fuck now. But it wasn't about him, not just yet, so he continued to suck and to toy, making Kagome shift and squirm and bury her hands in his silver hair.

"Oh god," Kagome whispered, almost like a prayer. "You'll fuck me, won't you? Please say you will. _Please_."

It was just so hard to say no to her.

His hands tugged at the button of her jeans, lowering the zipper and soothing his hands over new, warm skin. He pulled at the band, rising from her only so that he could take off her jeans and underwear in one shot. The moment she was free her legs circled around his waist, tugging him closer like she was desperate for it. Kagome's dark brown eyes were almost black, her body arching towards him like she was desperate for his touch.

It always amazed the hell out of him that no matter how many times they did this, Kagome was always so breathtaking, that she was always so eager and perfect and _his_.

The first press of his fingers inside of her was enough to make him crumble. She was so hot inside, wet from all of the teasing. Her moans were breathy and she was mumbling words that he didn't even care for. Her legs were still trying to pull him closer, pull him on top of her, and it was only his need to draw this out and make her scream that had him resisting. He curled his fingers inside of her, again and again until her hips followed with the movement. Inuyasha paused to listen to the desperate, high-pitched whine she made when he stopped. She glared at him while she spoke more filthy words into the headset, but her hips started moving on their own. Kagome was fucking herself on his fingers and it was by far the hottest thing he would ever watch, no matter how many times it happened.

"Just fuck me already, will you?" Kagome cried out, her hands scrambling to grab his shoulders as if she was speaking directly to him. Maybe she was, he couldn't tell, but Inuyasha was too pent up to resist now anyways. He removed his jeans and slid off the bed to shed them, hating the distance required to make stripping that much easier. He reached into the nightstand and grabbed a condom, wasting no time in opening the packet and rolling it on. Returning to the V of her legs, Inuyasha couldn't help but push three fingers inside of her, just to feel again, just to see what she'd do.

Kagome threw her head back and groaned. It sounded a little off, like she was extending it purposefully. It wasn't until she started sprouting words about how good the sex was that Inuyasha smirked, the tip of his cock teasing at the entrance just to see how her breath would catch. When the headset was pressed and roughly taken off, Kagome glared at him. "How could you–"

At that precise moment, Inuyasha grabbed her hips and slid right in, letting out a groan that was probably far too loud. He couldn't care less though in the moment, too riled up on the way Kagome was flushed and begging for him. He was going to come far too soon at this rate so Inuyasha stopped and leaned over her, kissing the valley between her breasts until he could reach her lips.

"You're infuriating," Kagome said, although with the way she practically preened at his half-thrust, he didn't take it to heart.

"You've said that a lot of times," Inuyasha replied steadily. He could tell from the look on her face that she hated how normal he sounded in comparison. "It doesn't seem to change your mind."

"There are other things to consider," Kagome explained, letting her hands roam along his shoulders and arms, fingers dipping in the grooves of muscle. "Your mouth isn't the only good feature."

He gave a lazy thrust to prove a point, smirking at the way Kagome arched into him, tightened her legs around him. "I've wanted to fuck you for days. The cottage was the biggest tease of my life."

"Have to keep you begging for more somehow," Kagome answered, smiling up at him. Her hands toyed with his ears, rubbing at the soft fuzz of fur. "I like you begging."

If she kept doing that, he was going to be doing a lot more than begging. Inuyasha shuddered bodily, head dropping down so that she could rub them some more. His hips did lazy circles and thrusts, just enough to keep the edge there without making this end far too soon, far too fast.

Kagome pressed up, her lips suddenly only an inch away from his ears as she whispered, "can I make you beg?"

"Fuck yes," Inuyasha replied, looking back up at her. It was his turn now to sound desperate and wrecked, and the most he could do was roll when Kagome prompted him too. Her legs tightened around his body as she straddled him, hands falling to his quads. The arch of her back made her breasts stick out, her hips lift, and Inuyasha was definitely in love now if he hadn't been before.

He had been before, but that wasn't entirely the point. Inuyasha tried very hard not to think about it.

When Kagome started to push on his legs to leverage up her hips, all Inuyasha could do was hold on and watch while she practically danced on his cock. It was almost worse, like this, because he couldn't control the movement, couldn't stop her from doing wonderful, wonderful things to him. He wasn't going to last, not like his, so he reached down to play with her clit, making Kagome force out a cry from the touch alone.

Jesus Christ, she was going to kill him.

His climax was practically blinding, his hands gripping her so tightly that Kagome couldn't escape even if she tried. He pushed up into her, helpless thrusts only because there was no possible way for him to bury himself deeper.

Inuyasha was almost embarrassed to say that it took him several minutes to get any sort of higher brain power to function again.

"So," Kagome started, far too casual, "that was interesting."

"Right." It probably wasn't at all what she was trying to get at, or even an answer remotely suitable to follow up to the statement. Right now, Inuyasha couldn't give a flying fuck.

"Does it…bother you?"

Inuyasha stifled a groan as he rolled to face Kagome, who was lying on her side, studiously not touching him anymore. He wanted to bridge that gap, to pull her flush against his body because anything else was just wrong. Inuyasha could tell from the look on her face that the action wouldn't be received well at the moment. "Does what bother me?" he asked, making sure he had the facts correct.

"Me…working." Kagome's dark brown eyes stared at him, her bottom lip curling in as if to worry it.

"As a phone sex operator."

"Obviously. I don't exactly spend my Thursday nights at a street corner or anything."

Inuyasha couldn't help the short puff of laughter. Maybe he accidentally killed a few brain cells with that last orgasm. "It doesn't _bother_ me, per se. It also wouldn't _bother_ me if you quit, either." At Kagome's relatively alarmed look he continued on, finally reaching out to touch her arm. "That's not it. I'm not asking you to quit. I get it, okay? I get what this job means to you. I get that it helps your family out and helps you get by on a weekly basis. I would never ask you to stop just because I'm a little jealous that other men get to hear you whisper filthy things. It's a _me_ thing. Not a _you_ thing."

Kagome cuddled up to him all on her own, pressing her naked body to his and draping her legs over him like a leech. "You're jealous?"

"I'm sorry, what was that display back there?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically. "It's different though. I know you don't get anything out of it. I know for a fact that you do your homework when you tell a guy to _fuck you harder_. It's not a big deal. Will I possibly maul you the day you're able to quit and fuck you so good that you can't walk straight for a week after? Absolutely. Am I ever going to ask you to quit because I'm your boy…whatever? No."

For a long second, Inuyasha remained incredibly still. He had been only milliseconds away from calling himself her boyfriend. It was on the tip of his tongue, barely held back. That's what he wanted, anyways. That's what his goal was.

Sometime. If he ever got the nerve.

He had tried once and it had not been particularly successful.

"You're a fantastic boy-whatever," Kagome murmured into his skin, closing her eyes. "Nap?"

The tension drained out of his body all at once because she _got_ it. She understood. "Yeah, a nap sounds pretty fucking awesome, actually."

"Trust school to do that to you."

"Trust a horny girl-whatever to do that to you."

Kagome smiled and Inuyasha tightened his arms around her.

* * *

So far, she had been having the most excellent kind of night. Work had been during the day so she got a lot of her homework done during and in between calls. Inuyasha had sent her at text about dinner and so all bundled up, she waited for him to pick her up from the house so that they could go to a restaurant and enjoy some time _out_. Now it was nearing midnight and she was home. Her hair was a mess but that was okay because she had just spent the past twenty minutes making out on her porch with Inuyasha, who was just– He was just–

"Kagome, you're home!"

It wasn't unusual for Kikyo to call her out the moment she stepped in the door, but Kagome had known her roommate for a long time. The voice she was using was sultry and smooth, and it was the voice she used when she was picking up guys. The thought immediately threw up alarms so Kagome waited, slowly taking off her boots and unzipping her jacket. "Hi," she called back, somewhat awkwardly after such a long pause. "What's up?"

"I'm trying not to panic," Kikyo went on. "I think Sango is going to kill me."

Narrowing her eyes, Kagome finally stepped from the front entrance and followed her friend's voice into the living room. Kikyo stood in the doorway, smiling at her strangely. "Now you're just acting creepy."

"It's for a good reason," Sango stated from behind, and Kagome whirled around because _what the hell was going on_? "Nope, no, you are not getting out of this," she continued, grabbing her arms and practically dragging her onto the couch. "You are going to sit here and listen to us."

There was a banner that read _intervention_ hanging haphazardly over the television.

What the hell.

"It's for you own good," Kikyo added, unnecessarily because Sango had mostly said the same thing. While Sango manhandled Kagome to the couch, Kikyo clapped her hands together and smiled serenely.

"I don't have a clue what this is about," Kagome said, looking around the room to see if there was anyone else or if there were other exciting 'intervention' decorations, but there weren't any. It was just the three of them, with an awkward banner that was clearly made on taped up sheets of eleven-by-eight-inch paper. "I'm not doing drugs and I drink significantly less than you do Kikyo."

Sango snorted rather ungracefully. "That's not what this is about."

"We want to talk about your love life," Kikyo continued, looking somber. "We need you to stop with the whole gaga eyes and blushing cheeks, _unless_ you get your shit together and just tell him already."

Sango nodded her head. "And we love you."

Rolling her eyes, Kikyo sighed. "This is why I didn't want to have the banner. It gives us expectations to follow."

Simply blinking, Kagome didn't know what to say.

Apparently, her friends felt compelled to fill the silence until she did. "Inuyasha is clearly into you," Sango stated, making a face while she did so. "A lot. He's all happy and cheerful – which is frankly a bit disturbing – but it's a good thing."

"And you already have a fantastic sex life." Kikyo grinned. "I'm totally jealous, by the way."

"So...you're sitting me down to tell me to…ask him out?" Kagome scrunched up her face, shaking her head. "You can't be serious."

"Oh god, don't tell me you don't like him anymore!" Kikyo yelled, brown eyes wide. "I know sometimes that the chase is better than the catch, but you guys are so cute!"

"What? No! No, that's not it. Just…we were never supposed to be a _thing_." Kagome sighed and ran a hand over her face. "But we are thing, kind of. I think. We're exclusive? Probably."

Shoving her friend over, Sango sat down beside Kagome on the couch. "Trust me, his sex life wasn't anything exciting before but you're definitely exclusive."

"But they haven't _said_ they were exclusive," Kikyo pointed out, "and that's the problem. You two need to get your shit together. What's holding you back? You obviously love him."

" _Whoa_ ," Kagome exclaimed, at the same time that Sango screeched a little. Neither of them seemed upset by the comment but Kagome looked a little thrown. "You can't just drop that!"

Kikyo raised a brow at Kagome.

"We're not even technically dating. How can I tell him that I probably-mostly-definitely have intense feelings for him?" she whined.

"Probably-mostly-definitely _love_ him," Sango corrected. "Try that again."

For the first time, Kagome looked on at her friends with a desperation neither had seen on her face for a long time. The raven-haired woman tilted her head back so that it fell to the couch, eyes closing. "It's not _supposed_ to be love. You're supposed to see that person and be attracted, yes, but you're supposed to get to know each other slowly through dating or whatever and then graduate to crazy sex and then fall in love. We – _we_ _definitely_ – did not do that."

Sango looked at Kikyo. "She's being dumb."

"Says the girl who had that happen to her exactly like that!" Kagome complained. "You and Miroku were friends, but you liked him and then eventually you guys started dating and soon you'll have sex and fall in love. Or you'll fall in love first and then have sex. See? I'm not wrong!"

"But you're really not right, either," Kikyo pointed out, sitting down on the armrest of the couch since Sango was hogging most of it. "I've been in love several times now. It's a fucking pain in the ass, is what it is. Falling in love is not the big romantic crap you read in books or see in movies. The first guy I fell in love with was the guy I lost my virginity to, but I fell in love first, didn't wait and got left pretty much right after. I literally took the statement 'wham, bam, thank you ma'am' and applied it to my physical being. My second love was a really nice guy, but we didn't work out because I lost that spark of attraction over time."

Kagome frowned at her friend, poking her gently. "I don't remember you dating anyone for a long period of time."

"I don't advertise it," Kikyo responded with a shrug. "I let you see the threesomes and one night stands because those don't mean anything to me. I keep my heart in my chest, thank you very much."

" _Do_ you love him?" Sango asked, stealing the attention away momentarily. She nudged her shoulder gently against Kagome's, giving a small smile. "Do you actually, because if you don't, then we can still figure it out."

Groaning out loud, Kagome buried her face in her hands and nodded. "It's pretty painfully obvious. I'm like a pre-teen gaggling over Justin Bieber."

"And thank god for that," Sango commented, letting out a sigh of relief. "I would've stuck by your side, but honestly I would've strangled you if you didn't love him."

"Nice," Kikyo said, shaking her head at her friend. "Keeping the friendship strong."

"What do I do?" Kagome asked, her voice slightly muffled. "I mean, should I ask him out? It seems dumb, because we have sex literally all the time. It's like we're demoting ourselves."

"You don't have to take the sex away, do you?" Sango asked, shrugging. "I'm not exactly an expert."

There was a minute of silence while the three contemplated the question. Kagome kept her head buried while Sango examined the banner and Kikyo stared at the blank television.

"I don't know what to do," Kagome finally said.

"I'm lousy at this," Sango added.

Kikyo couldn't just say nothing. "Seriously, how much sex do you guys actually have? And how does it vary? Like are you a die-hard missionary or do you guys like to tango a little?"

She really should have just said nothing.

"You can be worse than Miroku, you know that right?" Sango asked, laughing and standing up. "I think this calls for an ice cream conference. Are you all with me?"

When she left the room, Kagome grinned at Kikyo and shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I've never been in his presence and _not_ had sex with him sometime during it." She paused. "Is that even healthy?"

Kikyo sighed, looking put upon. "It sounds fucking swell to me. I wouldn't complain because that probably just means he'll need Viagra a hell of a lot sooner."

" _I heard that_!" Sango yelled from the kitchen. "Get in here and eat this ice cream with me so I don't feel completely and totally fat! For the love of god, you two!"

"She's going to die a virgin," Kikyo concluded in a whisper before leaving the living room in search of chocolate goodness. Kagome followed, because where Inuyasha and feelings were involved, chocolate was the only way to go.

* * *

 **Responses to Anon Reviewers:**

Guest: You are incredibly correct, Sango definitely needs to chill. I, apparently, gave her absolutely none when I wrote this. Ohhhh welllllll.

Guest: Thank you so much love! Glad you're enjoying the story :D It's almost over!

Guest: Kikyo and Souta truly deserve all of the awards! Sango… Gets a little explained but she's still being a little psycho. What can you do?

Mal: You're right. It's not always easy to understand another person. I think stories (in general, published or FanFiction or anything) love to overdo it – and trust me, I'm certainly one of them. It's such a trope, obliviousness or misunderstandings. It's a love/hate relationship haha. Thank you so much love!

Wolfsmaid: Woo! Thank you so much dear! I'm so happy you loved the last chapter. Hopefully you liked this one too. The ending is almost here!

ThatGirl: I think I try to make up to Kikyo how awful some people write her. So I try to make her super cool, the kind of chick I'd want to hang out with. So happy you loved this, darling. I adore you!

Xo: Aw shucks. Thanks so much love :)

* * *

 **Next chapter is THE END. Feedback is love.**


	8. Part VIII

**Author's Note:** All good things must end.

* * *

 **Pennies and Dimes**

 **Part VIII**

* * *

Inuyasha was having a really, really shitty day.

It started when he woke up, far too late and far too long after his alarm clock was supposed to go off. It had rained the day before and then frozen overnight, so while Inuyasha had to sprint with demon speed towards the school, everything was a big block of ice.

He fell far too many times and with the speed he was going, none of it had been pretty.

There had been a pop quiz in class, which was the biggest fucking annoyance of the day. The prof _had_ told them there would be several over the course of the year, but fuck it if he put the damn thing on the only day Inuyasha had ever been late. He wrote the quiz in three minutes, when they normally had five. He barely finished, and if the TA was able to read what could only be considered _scratch_ at the end, well, there was hope for a passing mark.

With his lateness, Inuyasha hadn't brought money or his cell phone, which meant no food and no one to help. He could've gone home but one glance outside the window to seeing _hail_ was just too much. He sat in the library, sulking, until his next few classes started. When he finally journeyed back home, he managed to freeze the tips of his ears so bad it actually _hurt_ to walk inside his warm apartment. Then he heard Miroku moaning loudly and realized that Sango was _obviously_ over.

Grabbing some cash – if part of it was Miroku's, well, fuck him – Inuyasha walked down the street to a small deli to grab food, because it was four o'clock and he was famished. He had forgotten his cell phone, _again_. The sandwich was the most delicious thing he had ever come across (probably because he was nearly dying) but the coffee had been absolutely _awful_.

And then, when he went outside to walk home two solid hours later in hopes that Miroku and Sango were done their gross activities, it started to rain.

 _Of course_ , _because that was his life._

Really, there hadn't been any conscious decision to head towards her house rather than his, but Inuyasha wasn't in the mood to look too deeply into his mind. He knew what things were – kind of – but they were something. He wanted to send a text to let her know he was heading over but without a cell phone he was shit out of luck. Regardless, Inuyasha huddled deeper into his coat and ran the rest of the way to her place. By the time he arrived, the half-demon huddled under the porch, staring up at Kagome's window with narrowed eyes. There was no way he was climbing up there with the amount of rain that was pouring down.

His only option was to knock on the door.

Inuyasha stared for a moment, raised his hand and realized with a horror that Kikyo could possibly answer. She was cool and all, but frankly, she was slightly terrifying in her blasé viewpoint of the world. He didn't know her all that well but Kagome had told him stories. The wind blew by, harder than before and sending a few scattered raindrops underneath the overhang of the porch. Giving in, Inuyasha knocked.

Sango was probably with Miroku still, so there was a fifty percent chance the person answering the door would be Kagome.

Kikyo grinned at him devilishly when she saw his face. "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

Considering he was soaking wet and dripping all over, Inuyasha found that statement hardly amusing. "Is Kagome here?"

"Yeah, come on," the black-haired woman urged, stepping aside to let him in. Inuyasha removed his shoes and soaking jacket, hanging them up and looking disdainfully at the floor where the water continued to drip. "Don't worry about it. You should've seen what I drunkenly did at a paint party. Sango was furious about the neon green paint pressing against her door."

Inuyasha raised a brow. "Did it come off?"

"Of course it did," Kikyo scoffed. "Although, I may or may not have washed all of it but my breast imprints. It made for a funny story when her study group came by later that night."

"Did she throttle you?" the half-demon asked, surprised. Sango had always been pretty crazy when it came to cleanliness. He knew that and he didn't even live with her. "I imagine she wasn't too pleasant to deal with."

"Actually, I just got her drunk with Jello shots and we did it to Kagome's door." Kikyo's grin couldn't possibly get any wider. "She should be in her room."

"Thanks." Heading towards the stairs, Inuyasha paused when he heard the faintest of laughs from the main floor. He turned to see Kikyo staring at him, clearly amused. "What?"

"You are a massive dork. Sango told me you had it bad and trust me, I saw it at the cottage well enough. But just now climbing those stairs? If you had a tail, it would be wagging."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You love making dog references, don't you?"

"Only when it fits. Like, you know, when you were panting after her. Drooling for her. Go fetch boy!" Kikyo laughed hysterically and started to leave the main entrance. "Just ask her out already, you tool. She won't say no."

Snorting, the half-demon leaned against the railing and crossed his arms. "You're giving me advice on my love life? I hardly know you. The most I know is that you have a thing for threesomes."

"Jealous?" Kikyo asked, winking. "Don't worry. I'm sure Jakotsu wouldn't mind joining you and Kagome. Although, I wouldn't recommend it since she doesn't typically share."

"How do you know?" Inuyasha asked, shrugging. "What makes you so sure she's not just in it for exactly what this started as?"

The black-haired woman gave him the driest possible look. "Don't be purposely stupid. Honestly, that was offensively dumb. Stop chasing your damn tail and actually get some tail, _permanently_."

"Fuck you," Inuyasha mumbled, ignoring Kikyo's continuing laughter as he went to Kagome's room. The door was shut so Inuyasha stood in front of it much like he stood in front of the main door. He had never really entered from this side before, except for that one time where he surprised her and they quickly got with the whole let's-have-sex thing…

Knocking lightly, Inuyasha made a face before opening it himself. Kagome was halfway from getting off her bed, looking at him with confusion written across her face. "Hey," she said, her brown eyes pointedly glancing at her phone. "Did you call?"

"Nope."

Kagome studied him, stepping closer until she was nearly pressed against him. "You're soaking wet. Did you _run_ here? It's pouring out!"

"Yeah," Inuyasha grumbled, "thanks tips. Miroku and Sango are having sex at the house so I had to escape before my ears fell off."

"You saw them?" Kagome asked, slightly horrified. "Inuyasha, you should have paid more attention!"

"What? The hell I was staying back there and watching them!" He looked at her like she had grown at head.

"No, sorry," Kagome sighed, "I mean, you should've been listening before you entered. Walking in on their first time is _terrible_."

" _What_?" The conversation was quickly getting out of hand. "No, I didn't– Oh god, they haven't yet? Miroku hasn't had sex yet, excuse me?" He wasn't sure what question got to him more. But then again, did it really matter? "I didn't just _walk in_ , they were in a bedroom. But they were loud! They probably didn't even know I was there! All I wanted was some money and _food_."

He hadn't whined that last bit there. There was no whining whatsoever in his tone.

The way Kagome's face crumpled in pity was a strong indicator that he had failed. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said, reaching out to stroke his arm. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Yeah, that's where I came from," he grumbled, glaring at the wet spots on his shirt from his soaking hair. "It was a longer run but I didn't want to go back home just in case."

It was a strange mixture of laughter and adoration, but Kagome's long _aww_ made him roll his eyes. "And you came here?"

"Who else do I know or care about?" Inuyasha snapped, grumpy. He was wet. Kikyo had called him a cat and made other references to his dog-like nature. Of course, being here with Kagome made him realize that the woman wasn't so far off the mark. Son of a bitch.

"Let's dry you off," Kagome said instead, clearly getting the hint. She started unbuttoning his jeans – which were completely soaked – and pulling them off.

"Is that what people are calling it these days?" Inuyasha asked, amused at Kagome's eye roll while he stepped out of his clothes. He took off his shirt too, because why not? Spinning, he jumped for the bed and buried under the covers. It was still warm from before when she was lying down. "Go woman. Do my laundry."

" _What_?" Kagome asked, screeching somewhat. His wet clothes were thrown on his head but he hid under the covers further, closing his eyes. "Don't go to sleep on me, hey!"

Frankly, now that he thought of it, his boxers were wet too. Jeans weren't exactly waterproof. Poking his head out, Inuyasha grinned. "You forgot something."

The black-haired woman gave him a long-suffering look. Her facial expression even hinted at the regret she'd face, but she asked the question anyways. "What?"

"I've still got my boxers on. Those are wet too, you know."

"Really?" Kagome asked, crossing her arms and looking amused. "They are?"

"You can even feel them if you don't believe me," the half-demon said solemnly.

Laughing, Kagome grabbed his jeans and shirt back. "Just give me the damn thing and I'll throw them in the dryer. Do _not_ go streaking around my house. Kikyo is here."

He flung his boxers in her direction before hiding under the blankets once more. "I don't like her anyways. She called me a _cat_."

"The horror," Kagome deadpanned. The snick of the door shutting said she was gone but Inuyasha was good at waiting. When the door opened five minutes later, it was a smart thing that he hadn't thrown off the covers and invited Kagome to bed.

Kikyo looked mildly unimpressed with him, but it may have been because he was surrounded by purple bed sheets. "I said, ' _look what the cat dragged in_.' That's not calling you a cat." She raised a brow at his scowl. "Are you naked?"

" _Kikyo_!" And that was Kagome, downstairs. Her footsteps coming up the stairs sounded like a stampede of elephants, she was trying so hard.

"It was supposed to be a surprise," Inuyasha offered, jokingly. "Not for you though. You called me a cat."

Kikyo rolled her eyes the exact moment Kagome burst through the doorway. "I didn't say to go in and _correct him_ ," she admonished, looking somewhat horrified at the scene before her. "It was funny."

The roommate hummed, her brown eyes dragging from the half-demon's covered figure to Kagome's red face. "Is this going to be, like, _yay now we're dating_ sex? Did you finally grow some balls and get some nerve?" The final question was directed at him.

Inuyasha choked and Kagome laughed, nervously. He didn't know what the reaction meant. Was that a good reaction or a bad reaction? Was Kikyo right with the whole ask-her-out thing or just trying to make him look bad? Recent moments suggested the latter.

"For fuck's sake, you two," Kikyo grumbled, shaking her head. "Well, have great sex anyways. I'm going to make a booty call. If you're having sex, it's only fair that I am too."

"We're not having sex," Kagome stated, but her roommate was already out the door. "We're not!"

When she shut the door, Inuyasha threw back the covers and smirked. "Oh yes we are."

"That was terrible," Kagome pointed out. "This isn't a porno."

"Fine," Inuyasha said, pouting. He rolled back under the blankets and wrapped himself up. "Enjoy yourself over there."

"You're lying down on my homework."

Inuyasha scrunched his nose because _that's_ what that thing jabbing into him was. Using the blankets, he rolled and shifted until there was nothing else around him and he was pressed into the corner of the wall. "Better?"

"You just– Why are you making this difficult?" Kagome sighed and the half-demon listened while she moved the homework off the bed. The sinking of the mattress was her and Inuyasha smirked into the wall. "Give me some blanket."

"You made your feelings clear that this wasn't a porno, and let's face it," Inuyasha murmured, "with my gorgeous naked body under here, you won't be able to resist if I let you get close."

" _Oh my god_ ," Kagome groaned, perplexed. "Your gorgeous naked body? That's what you say?"

"You totally want it."

There was a soft laugh and then a long moment of silence. He couldn't see her but he knew she was staring at the back of his head, probably thinking about homework or how long the dryer was going to run for or what to make for dinner. Even though he had just eaten, he could really go for dinner.

Suddenly there was a sharp tug on the blankets and Inuyasha let them go, unable to keep the smug smirk off his face while Kagome scooted under, her hands wandering across his chest and down his body. "We have to be quiet because if she hears, I'm never going to hear the end of it."

"We wouldn't want that," he replied, turning over to kiss her skin. "But you're wearing way too many clothes."

"Guess you better fix that then," Kagome murmured quietly, gasping as his hands trailed under her shirt and made goose bumps crawl along her flesh. He pushed up the fabric as high as it would go, tugging it off with some effort as her hair fell everywhere. He wasted no time with the buttons on her jeans, sliding them and her underwear off clumsily and tossing them to the side. "Impatient?"

"Hardly," he murmured, licking a trail from her mid-thigh up, hands holding her hips. "You have to be quiet, you know."

"Haven't felt overly compelled to make a sound," Kagome retorted with little heat, the way her skin flushed was far too much of a giveaway.

"You're incredibly high-maintenance," he told her. Wasting no time in letting her respond, he pushed at her legs to open, mouth finding her clit and _sucking_.

" _Oh_ shit," Kagome rasped out, clearly far louder than she meant to, her hand clasping over her face. Her entire body arched as his tongue flicked, teasing the bud before sucking harder. Bracing his forearm across her lower body, his used his free hand to slip a finger inside of her, slowly pumping in and out while she writhed on the bed. Her hands were clenching at the bed sheets, feet planted into the mattress as he continued to torture her with crooks of his finger and flicks of his tongue. He added a second finger, lifting his head to watch the way her chest rose and fell with each movement. Without him holding her down she groaned, shifting her body on the mattress to move in time with his fingers.

"You're going to kill me," he murmured.

"Only if you stop," she moaned, eyes closing and body arching when he added a third finger.

Inuyasha was nearly vibrating with need, his golden eyes pinned to her and unable to look away. Every moment made him want to press her against the bed, to rub himself off just watching her flush with pleasure. It came to be too much so Inuyasha pulled out his fingers, wrapping his arms around her to twist them on the mattress.

Kagome stared down at him with poorly-hidden amusement. "Did you want something?" Even as she asked, her small hand was reaching back, circling around his dick. Each slide of her hand was rough, too dry, but he groaned all the same, happy for the relief. It seemed like the moment he got what he wanted it was taken away, far too quickly. Kagome got off the bed for her nightstand, rummaging through a drawer and tossing a condom at him.

Inuyasha wasted no time in putting it on. He watched as Kagome waited patiently, moving slowly up his body, her breasts brushing against his chest. His hands crawled up her sides, dipping around her hipbones and skimming just by her bellybutton. The half-demon saw the smile on her face, the one that was wicked and did things to his brain he wasn't proud of, and could only let himself focus on breathing as she settled just that bit too far, his aching cock caught between her thighs with the head teasing along her entrance.

Kagome moaned and circling her hips, not getting any lower or sinking any deeper, enough to drive him absolutely mad. She kept coming closer and then pulling away, letting him enter inside barely an inch before pushing back up and away.

"Remember when you said that if I stopped you'd kill me?" he muttered. His voice sounded wrecked and there was definitely no reason for it whatsoever. He shouldn't be this thrown by her, not when it was hardly their first time, not when he was barely being touched and yet so deliciously close to the edge.

She laughed quietly, leaning down to brush her lips against his. There was nothing he could do but fight for it, opening her mouth and driving in, doing exactly what he wanted to be doing to her body. He sucked on her bottom lip and pulled her tighter to him, hands sliding down her smooth back until he could palm her ass in his hands. Kagome let out a gasp, kiss ending as her back arched and she sank down all the way.

Inuyasha should have known he was never going to last. With Kagome on top of him, riding his cock with her lush breasts bouncing and head thrown back, he was lucky he made it as long as he had. The moment she began to roll her hips, twisting in delicate circles and grinding down hard, Inuyasha closed his eyes and let his climax take him over, body rocking and hips thrusting desperately to drive himself further inside. Loose limbed and calm, his arms wrapped around Kagome as she lay back down on top of him, her lips kissing along his jaw.

"See? Definitely not a porno," Kagome murmured, and the half-demon could feel her smile pressed against his skin.

He should ask her out right now.

Then again, he was still inside of her and suffering from an amazing afterglow that made him want to curl back up under the covers and sleep.

But, Inuyasha decided, he was definitely going to ask her. This _wasn't_ him chickening out.

He was just biding his time for the perfect moment.

Right.

* * *

"You need to man up and ask him out," Sango stated, waving around her spoon.

It was another ice cream night. For some reason, they were becoming more and more frequent. Kagome really couldn't complain. "I think if I manned up that would defeat the purpose. He likes my womanliness."

"My god," Kikyo whined, "why won't you two just get it together already? This is brutal."

"I thought he was going to ask me out! What? I did!" Kagome was not thrown by the look her roommate gave her. If anything, it made her suspicious. "What did you do?"

"I told him to ask you out," Kikyo replied, unapologetic. "I'd worry about him."

Kagome took a rather large scoop of ice cream, just because.

Sango nodded. "But, to be fair, he's not exactly one to put himself out there. He's never been like that, not since I've known him."

"She's a sure thing!" Kikyo wailed. "They've had sex a billion times and have been cuddling afterwards! Tell me how that's not a _sure thing_!"

"They don't–" Sango cut herself off, narrowing her eyes. "He cuddles?"

Kagome shrugged and then nodded. "He's not against it."

"A _sure thing_ ," Kikyo mumbled. "Jesus Christ, all of you."

"Kikyo's right," Sango stated. "As much as I love him, your boy is an idiot for not asking you out already."

"You should ask him out."

Kagome glared at her roommates. "No."

"Do it!"

Stealing the entire tub, Kagome attacked Sango with her spoon before running away. It was the mature thing to do.

* * *

"Ask her out."

"Fuck off."

"Ask her out."

"Fuck off."

"If Sango doesn't want to have sex one more time because she rather moan on about how you and Kagome can't get your act together, I'm going to strangle you."

"Noted. Now, fuck off."

* * *

It was getting ridiculous, was what it was.

Kagome tugged on her scarf, fixing the way it folded because sometimes it crossed funny and made her look more like the abominable snowman than a cute girl wearing a trendy scarf. Moments like these, where one walked the line of fashion, were always tricky times.

Especially when you were going to ask out your friend-with-benefits.

For real.

 _Did you ask him yet?_

Kagome stared at her cell phone disdainfully, typing a message back to Sango who had been encouraging her for the better part of the past few weeks to finally do something. It was all her roommates talked about, to the point that it actually was _irritating_. A large reason Kagome was finally doing this was because it would shut them up.

Another part – smaller, but still loud – was that Inuyasha hadn't really been texting her all week. They had seen each other a few times at school, but the school year was quickly heading into midterm season, and even sooner was reading week. Asking him now gave her a bit of an out if she needed it but to be honest, it was inevitable. She knew they had something. It wasn't some misunderstanding. Inuyasha wasn't going to look at her like she was crazy for suggesting a date.

The transition might not be…smooth though. Or something.

 _You haven't knocked on the door yet, have you?_

Kikyo loved to remind her how often Kagome sucked at stuff like this.

Ignoring the text, Kagome knocked on the door and waited. She hadn't texted Inuyasha to let him know that she was coming, but after last time she figured it wasn't a big deal. If he could come to her looking like a drowned rat, then she could come over looking like a model (that had been the goal, anyways).

Miroku's blue eyes were the first thing she noticed before the man grinned, opening the door wider and gesturing for her to come inside. "Kagome, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"As much as I love seeing your face, I was wondering if Inuyasha was here?" she asked, trying to keep her eyes focused on her friend and not Inuyasha's closed bedroom door down the hall. Showing desperation was not classy. Showing her nervousness wasn't either but there was only so much Kagome could keep a handle on.

"Yeah, he's in his room. I wouldn't breathe in so much if you don't have to," Miroku advised, waving at her as he headed into the living room. Some video game featuring repetitive music played in the background. "Have fun!"

"Don't breathe?" Kagome asked, hoping for an explanation, but Miroku was already back at his game. "Alright then," she murmured, making her way towards the bedroom door. She knocked on it before entering, peering in just in case something terrible was happening.

Inuyasha coughed and groaned a little. "Miroku, fucking kill me."

"Let me get the gun, hold on," Kagome replied, grinning as she entered his room. The half-demon's ears perked up, twitching in her direction as he slowly pulled down the covers to reveal his face. "So this is why Miroku told me not to breathe."

"Unless you _want_ to get sick," Inuyasha mumbled, blinking and a little glassy-eyed. "I've got a fever, chills and a cough. I want to die."

Kagome sat down on the edge of the mattress, placing her cell phone on the nightstand so that she could focus her attention on him. A hand on his head confirmed the heat radiating off of it – definitely a fever. His silver bangs were plastered to his forehead and he was sweating, much to her displeasure. It didn't really matter though because he looked horrible. Frankly, someone should help. Miroku was clearly useless. "What have you taken for it?"

"Tylenol and Advil, at different times," the half-demon responded. "That's all I own."

"I'll get you some cough medicine." Kagome let her fingers run through his hair, slowly shifting to trace along the edges of the white fuzzy ears. "Have you slept?"

Inuyasha mostly purred into the blankets, eyes closing instantly. "Not really."

"Do you own a thermometer or anything?" she pressed. "You should make sure it's not dangerous."

"There aren't any dancing monkeys yet, so I'm fine," the half-demon grumbled.

The stupidity of the remark made her laugh, her hand stilling on his ears. A golden eye cracked open to glare at her until the message of _do not stop the rubbing_ got through. With a sigh she continued, watching as Inuyasha relaxed further into the mattress. "I should go now though so you can feel better sooner. There's a drug store less than five minutes from here. I'll be back quickly."

He was debating it in his mind, she could tell. The way his face scrunched up made her realize how sick he probably was. "You better be back soon," he grumbled, shifting so that he disappeared back under the blankets. "Or whatever."

Kagome hummed and stood up, letting her hand brush against his duvet-covered shoulder when there was an awkward cough coming from the doorway. Miroku was standing there, the grin on his face torn between amused and worried. "Oh, so now you're a good roommate?" she asked teasingly, rolling her eyes when Miroku winked.

"I'm always a good roommate," he replied. "Who else would order him food?"

"I told you I wasn't _hungry_ ," Inuyasha whined, muffled by the blankets.

The black-haired man sighed. "See what I have to work with?"

"Well I'm going to grab some cough medicine for him, so I'll be back in a few minutes," Kagome said, getting up and passing her friend. "He should sleep if he can."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Miroku muttered. "He practically forces himself to stay awake. The illness is dulling his senses out and he's not fond of it."

"Fuck you," Inuyasha spat, still in hiding.

Miroku's pointed glance was all that Kagome needed to wave and leave.

A bunch of takeout menus littered the counter by the kitchen as she walked there from the hallway, some cash clearly left by the door at the entranceway to pay the delivery man with when the food arrived. Kagome wondered what exactly Sango would think of that, considering she was a freak about neatness. The fact that the couple even worked was a bit beyond her.

Thinking of Sango, Kagome checked her pockets for her cell phone, standing in the front doorway with one foot in and the other out. Horror instantly gripped her because Sango and Kikyo were texting her about asking Inuyasha out and she left the phone on the nightstand. Miroku was there too and there was _no_ way he'd leave that alone.

"Shit," she mumbled, shutting the door and walking back to Inuyasha's bedroom. She could only pray that neither of her roommates had sent a text message that would be embarrassing.

"Fuck you!" Inuyasha snapped loudly, making Kagome freeze a few steps away from his bedroom. If he and Miroku were having a fight, maybe it would've been better if she left her phone there after all. Getting in the middle of it would not be worth it.

Miroku didn't sound particularly angry though. "Please, if it'll make Sango shut up for a _minute_ –"

"Leave it alone!" Inuyasha whined pathetically. "I'm sick and I don't need you _ragging_ on me."

"Just because you're a little sick doesn't mean you can't do it."

"I'm not going to ask her out when I'm _sick_ , you fucking tool. In case you haven't noticed, I kind of really fucking like her so if I'm going to ask at all, it's going to be pleasant for everyone involved. I'd rather not be sweating to death and chattering my teeth at the same time while I ask Kagome to actually be my girlfriend."

Holy shit. Kagome didn't dare move, or breathe, because _holy shit_.

Miroku laughed. "Aw, I knew there was a romantic in you."

"Shut up," Inuyasha complained. "The only reason you're so happy in love is because I said something remarkably intelligent that made you smarten up. So quit being a wiseass and–"

The pause in his speech made Kagome's heart pound. She _had_ breathed, but it was that or die and there was no way this situation could get any better or worse. It was just weird all around.

"Shit."

Well, there was no point in hiding anymore, obviously.

"What?" Miroku asked, just as Kagome stepped into the doorway. She couldn't help but smile at Inuyasha because the fact that she had come here to ask him out, only to learn about his plans was vaguely cliché. Of course Miroku would be part of the cliché. The man was a walking magnet for it, what with his true epic _love-at-first-sight_ crush with Sango and their _I-don't-like-you-what?_ speeches and secret blushes. "Oh," Miroku said. He appeared far too pleased with himself. "I'm just going to leave you two alone then."

Inuyasha's glare was only short of laser beams that could make his roommate implode.

"I came here to ask you out," Kagome explained right off the bat, at least to attempt to make the situation less awkward. "Sango and Kikyo gave me an intervention because I'm pretty good when it comes to denial."

The half-demon rolled his eyes. "Colour me shocked."

"I didn't exactly know how to clarify what we were, you know," Kagome huffed, crossing her arms. "You were all pissed at the cottage and then things changed and we were but we _weren't_."

"Because that makes a lot of sense."

"About as much as this whole relationship does, yeah."

Inuyasha's golden eyes searched hers and then with the tiniest quirk of his lips, he asked, "So, when I'm not privately dying, you want to do something that actually qualifies as a real date?"

Smiling, Kagome snatched her cell phone up and bent down to kiss the top of his head. "Definitely. Now, you stay here and continue to privately die while I get you some medicine."

Inuyasha's snort was the best answer she could hope for.

* * *

"So, just remember when you think back about tonight, _you're_ the one that wanted to go to a movie and _you're_ the one that picked the movie. None of that was my fault."

Kagome laughed before taking another sip of her McDonald's milkshake. "It wasn't a bad movie."

"Really? I couldn't tell with the way you _whined_ the whole damn time about it being inaccurate." Inuyasha tugged at his silver hair and made a face that could only best describe her own. "Oh my _god_ , not the cow! Not the cow! _Incest! Incest!_ "

Her brown eyes were wide with horror as she ducked her head, hoping to god that the few others in the fast-food establishment weren't paying them much mind. "That was a terrible imitation."

"That was dead on and you know it." Inuyasha smirked and then proceeded to finish off his own milkshake. "Personally, the actress was way too hot. I wouldn't have cared less if she was supposed to be a cow."

"We are dropping this conversation immediately." Kagome rolled her eyes when her phone suddenly buzzed on the table, lighting up.

Inuyasha knew exactly who it was. "Please don't tell me that Sango is calling to make sure I haven't ruined your virtue. Because, you know…"

"Message received, you don't have to spell it out."

He really, really wanted to spell it out. "Of course, you're the one that decided we had to do this the _proper_ way. You have been around Sango for way too long," he said, smacking his girlfriend's hand when she tried to pick up her phone to answer her roommate. "Leave it. She can live without you."

"She's drunk with Kikyo," Kagome complained. "They're probably doing filthy things to my door again."

"We could do filthy things against your door," he supplied, smirking. She was way too easy, especially since her cheeks heated up. It was hilarious that after all this time he could still get Kagome to act all ridiculous. "I'm just saying, I wouldn't mind."

Kagome took a long drag from her milkshake and Inuyasha had to try really hard to not stare at the way her lips were wrapped around the straw. He wasn't sex-deprived, not much, but he hadn't gotten any since he was sick and now they were on a first date. Of course, because his life sucked, Kagome thought that they should attempt to be like a real first date couple and _not have sex afterwards_.

"You can live for one night," she said finally, grinning hugely at him.

It only reaffirmed Inuyasha's belief that this was Sango's evil idea. It may or may not have gotten out that he had heard his friend and roommate going at it, which got to Kikyo's ears, who of course made a production of it by giving Sango a 'Congratulations to your Cherry Loss!' "It's a terrible idea. I can see the way you look at me; you totally want me to strip you down and fuck you against your door–"

" _We are in public_!" Kagome hissed, mostly under her breath.

The half-demon took another long sip of his chocolate milkshake. Not having sex tonight was probably going to create fantastic, mind-blowing sex tomorrow. He really wasn't complaining that much.

"Doesn't change a thing. I know you love it when–"

"Inuyasha," Kagome whispered, her brown eyes wide. "Seriously?"

He made a motion of zipping his lips. "Fine, what do you want to talk about then? We can talk about how I'm never taking you to the movies again because all you do is complain the entire way through it."

"It's only because I'm knowledgeable of the subject," Kagome responded, making a face. "It's what I study in school. I didn't realize I'd be so horrified by the incorrect details. I still very much enjoyed _Thor_."

"And that wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that the god was tall, muscular, blonde and built like a fucking beast?" Inuyasha raised a brow skeptically. "Enlighten me."

"No," Kagome replied, shaking her head. "Nope, not at all."

The half-demon narrowed his eyes at her. "That's because you're secretly a member of Loki's Army, aren't you?"

"Is it madness? _Is it_?" she quoted, grabbing her phone while he was distracted and leaning back I her chair, triumphant.

"I'm taking you home now before you start prancing down the street," Inuyasha muttered, standing up and tossing his now empty cup. "Come on. Let me take you home so I can't sex you up."

This time, an older couple looked over at them with discouraging expressions. Inuyasha was immensely pleased with himself, if only because Kagome turned five shades more red than usual and buried herself into his side to hide from the judgemental glares.

"Don't worry, I'll protect your virtue, remember?"

Kagome glowered at him. "What virtue?"

"Just keep in mind: you said that, not me."

* * *

It wasn't the first time that night that Kagome regretted the whole let's-not-have-sex thing. Basically, the moment she laid eyes on his tight shirt and pretty eyes and well, everything – she was pretty much gone. The fact was that none of it was a big deal. The date wasn't a big deal – more of a formality to "a new level" or whatever Sango had said. They were still _them_ and that was the only important part. They didn't act different.

The no sex thing was mostly a joke. In all honesty Kagome was a bit curious, mainly because she could count the number of times on her one hand how often they saw each other that didn't end up with them naked. Kagome figured that one night to push the whole _relationship_ thing to its limits wouldn't be a bad thing. It certainly wasn't going to make or break them, and if it did? Well they shouldn't be dating in the first place then.

Inuyasha, in his true fashion, made jokes about it all night. In the movies he whispered filthy things just to stop her from complaining (it worked). He continued at McDonald's of all places. And yet, as he drove her home with some vehicle that she could only guess was his father's – because what student could afford a brand new Jaguar? – he didn't utter a word of sexual innuendo.

He was keeping it PG.

Goddamn it.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the night?" Kagome asked, trying her hardest to sound casual.

The silver-haired man shrugged. "It's past midnight so chances are I'm going to pass out and then wake up early tomorrow to finish a report I have due Tuesday."

"Is that all you have due this week?"

"Presentation on Friday but that shit is easy," Inuyasha replied, slowing the car at a streetlight and turning to look at her. "Don't you have some big essay due Monday?"

"I finished it yesterday."

"Of course you did," Inuyasha mumbled.

Kagome huffed. "Well I knew we'd be going out tonight and that it would be late! I didn't want to panic tomorrow to finish it." She was leaving him an opening and she knew it. Unless she was planning on having Inuyasha stay over, there was no reason that she couldn't do the essay tomorrow – or finish it at least. In all honesty the paper hadn't been so hard, but Kagome wanted to push the half-demon, see what he would do.

"Then I guess you can relax tomorrow and not have to worry about anything."

"I guess so," Kagome mumbled, sighing and then staring out the window. Technically, it was her fault. In the end, Kagome would blame Sango and Kikyo anyways.

There was a small smirk on Inuyasha's face when he pulled into the driveway, turning off the engine and getting out. Kagome followed him and led the way up the porch, nudging against Inuyasha to bug him. "Tonight was fun," she said, just to be cliché. "Even the movie."

"Oh, good; I was worried," Inuyasha replied, rolling his eyes with the sarcasm. "So I'll text you tomorrow? I probably won't be doing much past my report."

"Sure, whenever. I have work tomorrow night but only for a few hours," she murmured, swaying closer to him. "Have a good night." Pressing up on her tip toes, Kagome let her arms circle around his neck to kiss him. They had done this so many times before. The porch was practically their second bedroom, which wasn't the best idea but had suited them fine. Kagome felt the half-demon's hands slide around her back, the jacket a thick barrier even as he tugged her closer, pried her lips open with his mouth to lick inside.

"So," Inuyasha said roughly when he pulled away, golden eyes intensely focused on her. "You…have a good night."

"Mmm." Kagome pulled him down again, kissing him harder until he got the idea. His hands skirted lower, drifted across her ass until he could pick her up and press her against the door. Inuyasha was nothing if not always true to his word. Her mind, if it hadn't already been made up, surely would have been by now. "Why don't you stay and we have an actual, really good night?"

"Thank god, I thought you were never going to fucking ask," Inuyasha panted into her mouth. The feel of his smirk against her lips made her smile into the kiss and soon he was letting her go so that she could open the door and they could race up the stairs.

As far as first dates went, it was definitely a good night.

* * *

Hours later, Sango and Kikyo were horrified to say that they could attest to it. There was not enough ice cream in the world that could make either of them forget.

* * *

 **The End**

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 **Responses to Anon Reviewers:**

 _Dizzie:_ Why thank you! I hope this last chapter lived up to expectations :)

 _SailorZ:_ Hope you enjoyed this last chapter and that your questions have been answered, dear. Thank you!

 _Guest:_ Oh there are definitely more stories in the works! So many stories. All of them are listed on my website but I also have a bunch coming up for the 12 Days of Witchyness. So far I've written 3 stories for that alone but I'm hoping to get another chapter series up shortly :D

 _Mal:_ You are honestly the sweetest thing ever, thank you so much dear. All of your words meant so much. Tropes are tropes for a reason, but I just can't help myself, you know? They're just so fun! And there will definitely, definitely be more coming from me. I'm still prepping for the 12 Days of Witchyness (Do you have a prompt for me?! Still accepting!) but I'm hoping to get another series going really soon. Not sure which one just yet, but we'll see what flows easiest :)

 _Wolfsmaid:_ I know! The ear thing was always just so cute to me. It doesn't always flow with my AUs but I'm glad I was able to put it in this one. Thanks so much love! Hope you enjoyed the story.

 _ThatGirl:_ I really, really hope this story was everything you were hoping for. You've been such a strong supporter this entire time and your kindness has always meant so much. Thank you dear, from the bottom of my little witchy heart.

 _Shaddowwww:_ Honestly, it means so much that you're enjoying (and now, hopefully, have enjoyed!) the story. Smut is always so hard to write, you know? I wrote this a long time ago but when I re-read it to proofread, I couldn't believe half of what I did hahaha. And thank you, thank you. I try to not be super cliché or tropey but sometimes it's hard. So much has been done in this fandom (and in fandom in general, oh man the tropes kill me) that you can't help the clichés. ANYWAYS. Basically, thank you. It truly means a lot.

* * *

 **Final Author's Note:** I can't easily come up with words to thank all of you for your kindness and support with this story. Some of you have been with me for so long, even before my long-ass absence. You guys are so supportive and I truly, truly thank you.

I hope that _Pennies and Dimes_ was enjoyable for you, even though some characters made you want to kill them and others pleasantly surprised you.

There is more coming your way. I'm still unsure about my next series, so if you want to browse the **Potential Stories list** on my website and let me know your pick, please do. I need all the help I can get haha.

The **12 Days of Witchyness** are just over a month away. Three prompts have been completed already so if you have more, please don't hesitate to send my way. I'm trying to complete at least one from everyone to share the fun. One of the stories I'm really excited for; it's not often I full on sob while writing something but this little story you'll experience soon enough did it for me.

 **And lastly, as always: Feedback is love.**


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